


The Definition of Insanity

by Thunderbirdswolvesandlilacs



Series: The Trials and Tribulations of the Mechanic and the Trickster [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alice in Wonderland References, Alternate Reality, Android Jarvis (Iron Man movies), Angst and Tragedy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Awesome Bucky Barnes, BAMF Bucky Barnes, BAMF Loki (Marvel), BAMF Natasha Romanov, BAMF Stephen Strange, BAMF Tony Stark, Bisexual Loki (Marvel), Bisexual Tony Stark, Bucky Barnes Has Issues, Bucky Barnes Is a Good Bro, Bucky Barnes Remembers, Clint Barton Has Issues, Dark, Dark Magic, De-Aged Tony Stark, Deal with a Devil, Delusions, Demonic Possession, Dream Dimension, Dreams and Nightmares, Dreams vs. Reality, Eventual Happy Ending, Extremis Tony Stark, F/M, False Memories, Genderfluid Loki (Marvel), Hallucinations, Heavy Angst, Horror, Hurt Wanda Maximoff, Infinity Gems, Insanity, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) Lives, Loki (Marvel) Has Issues, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, M/M, Magic, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Mental Anguish, Mental Breakdown, Mental Coercion, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Mentioned Doc Samson, Mind Control, Mind Games, Mind Gem (Marvel), Mind Manipulation, Minister Thor, Minor Bruce Banner/Betty Ross, Minor Bucky Barnes/Natasha Romanov, Minor Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Minor Carol Danvers/James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Minor Jane Foster/Thor, Minor Scott Lang/Hope Van Dyne, Minor Sharon Carter/Steve Rogers, Minor Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson, Minor T'Challa/Everett Ross, Minor Wanda Maximoff/Vision, Morally Ambiguous Natasha Romanoff, Mystery Twins, Natasha Romanov Has Issues, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Non-Consensual Touching, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Clint Friendly, Not Steve Friendly, Not Wanda Friendly, Obsessive Behavior, Original song lyrics, Other, Parent Loki (Marvel), Parent Tony Stark, Plot Twists, Possessive Behavior, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Loki (Marvel), Protective Tony Stark, Protective Vision (Marvel), Psychological Horror, Psychological Torture, Reality Bending, Realm of Madness, Recovered Memories, Ronin Clint Barton, Sad with a Happy Ending, Sam Wilson Has Issues, Sentient Infinity Stones (Marvel), Stephen Strange Has Issues, Steve Rogers Has Issues, Tony Stark Hates Magic, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, True Love, Unhealthy Relationships, Unrequited Love, Vice president Rhodey, Vision (Marvel) Dies, Visions in dreams, Wanda Maximoff Dies, not team Cap friendly, possessive Wanda, wanda maximoff needs help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:27:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24040555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thunderbirdswolvesandlilacs/pseuds/Thunderbirdswolvesandlilacs
Summary: Tony was no stranger to mental illness.Alcoholism. Depression. PTSD. Panic Attacks. A colorful range of different phobias.Those who didn't know him better *cough the former Rogues cough* would say narcissistic.But that was just because they never could see through any of the masks he put up to protect himself. Never understood the burden of his intelligence. How his mind never turned off. How the hundreds of thousands of possibilities haunted his every  thoughts. How not even the alcohol succeeded in slowing it down.So he proudly labeled himself as a "Mad Scientist".Tony owned his demons. Accepted them.But unlike most people all his demons seem to come back to haunt him in one form or another. Though to be fair he attracts the mentally unhinged and unstable like flies to honey...Being haunted by his past demons was nothing new...But he wasfine.Maximoff was just getting into all their heads again. Messing with them.He was "mad" but he wasn'tcrazy. He wasn't!......Right?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Tony Stark, Loki & Tony Stark, Loki/Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark, One sided Wanda Maximoff/Tony Stark - Relationship, Wanda Maximoff & The Mind Stone, Wanda Maximoff & Tony Stark, Wanda Maximoff/Vision, one sided Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Series: The Trials and Tribulations of the Mechanic and the Trickster [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1587700
Comments: 153
Kudos: 266





	1. Here We Go Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi All,
> 
> Thank you for your patience! The long awaited sequel to Sweet But Psycho is here!
> 
> Enjoy!

**(Third POV)**

_"Our Daddy!" Tommy corrected, his nose scrunching in offense, "Mommy said so!"_

_"……………"_

_Tony stiffened, his eyes widening in horror at the possible implications._

_No._

_No it wasn't possible._

_It **couldn't** be possible._

_......But the two sets of familiar deep brown eyes staring back at him begged to differ._

_Wanda came rushing over to their group in a panic, Vision floating hot on her heels._

_"Mommy tell Daddy the secret!" Billy exclaimed, determined to prove that he was right._

_Wanda's eyes widened in terror._

_Green began to flow from Loki's form, his expression one of absolute fury._

_'Whelp, talk about family reunion drama...Happy holidays' Tony thought sarcastically._

It was as if time had been frozen.

Nobody moved even a fraction of a millimetre.

Not even to breathe.

The rancorous chatter of the rest of the guests was nothing more than a dull roar. Mere background noise as the party went on around them, unaware of the nuclear bomb about to go off.

“Mommy?” Billy questioned uneasily, his toddler voice small and confused, clutching his Father tighter as he glanced between his Mother and the scary man glowing green.

The boy’s innocent inquiry broke the silence of the group’s denial of the reality situation.

Broke the final shred of thread holding Loki’s fury back.

 _"Mommy tell Daddy the secret!"_

The Witch’s expression of undue horror was answer in and of itself for him.

Beyond words, Loki unleashed a wave of psionic energy from his hand barreling straight at a still petrified Maximoff, every ounce of his wrath laced within the force of the magic blast.

Immediately reacting to the threat, Vision activated the Mind Stone, fortifying a protective shield around Wanda.

There was a clash of yellow and green as the two energies collided with one another, lighting up the room with their intensities.

Loki growled, baring his teeth at the Android’s interference.

Not about to back down, Loki increased the power behind his attack, his eyes now glowing bright forest green.

It was as if the world was vibrating, the collision between Vision and Loki’s powers causing a high pitched ring that only got louder and louder as neither side relented.

Just as Tony was about to take ahold of his husband’s arm to recenter him, he found himself surrounded by a protective blue bubble and two terrified octopuses clinging onto his chest and left leg.

Seeing that things were getting out of hand Steve motioned to Sharon to go for the sorcerer’s left (and retrieve Jamie) while he went to disable his right and stop Loki’s attack.

Unknowingly to them their action was mirrored by Rhodey and Carol. Though they silently gave Monica the order to intercept the blonde duo, not fully trusting them not to make the situation worse.

Before either of the groups could take action however, a circle of fiery golden sparks appeared in front of Loki’s attack, the portal sending the blast hurling into the sky of a frozen wasteland.

Seeing that his attack was rendered futile Loki let out a low frustrated growl, halting the output of his magic until it dissipated entirely, shifting his murderous gaze from the Witch and her guard dog to his now once again second least favorite sorcerer.

“Stay out of my way Strange, or you will be next” Loki promised, his voice dangerously low in his rage, his eyes still glowing a piercing green.

Strange didn’t so much as flinch as Levi floated him down off-center between the Asgardian Prince and Maximoff.

Seeing that Wanda was no longer in any immediate danger Vision dropped his shield.

The Android had no doubt that had he not shielded Wanda, Loki’s attack would have killed her immediately upon impact.

Wanda, despite being physically unharmed, was still very pale, her hands shaking minutely at the sight of her sons clinging to Tony (though admittedly a part of her smugly preened at the genius defending _them_ as opposed to his _son_ with the alien).

Ignoring the igniting embers of her (formerly) long buried hopes, Wanda took in a calming breath, steadying her hands as she reached out desperately into the air, “Tommy, Billy come here right now”.

Immediately obeying their Mother, Tommy sped over into her awaiting arms as Billy floated his way onto her shoulder.

Now free of toddlers’ clingy arms Tony took a quick stock of his surroundings.

All music and conversation had ceased to exist. The atmosphere tense and uncertain, much like the moments right before a mission or a battle.

Steve and Sharon were still high-strung, their bodies positioned ready to attack or defend, and the two of them were far too close to his blindly enraged husband than he was comfortable with.

Fortunately Rhodey, Carol, and Monica were all but blocking the former SHIELD agents’ path, their own stances and expressions making it clear that the duo wasn’t going to be getting past them.

Bruce had placed both Christine and Betty behind him, and from his tight expression and glaring green eyes (directed right at Maximoff) Tony knew that unless he wanted the Hulk to make an appearance Bruce was best left where he was.

Sam and Clint had made their way over to them, positioning themselves closer to Wanda on the side opposite to Rhodey, Carol, and Monica, both of them glaring mistrustingly at Loki.

Taking a glance near the lounge area Tony realized with a sigh of relief that Laura, Hope, Scott, T’Challa, and Ross had cut off all the older kids from getting involved.

Though Tony wasn’t surprised to see both Peter and Harley ready to leap right over Kitty King to get to his and Loki’s side, however one firm command from Laura had them both sitting right back down on the couch along with everyone else (though it took an extra stare down between T’Challa and Shuri to get the girl to sit back as well).

He would have to remember to thank all of them later.

Natasha and Snowflake were keeping themselves exactly midway between the two sides, and though the both of them looked at ease, Tony knew the both of them would be ready at a moment’s notice should a fight break out. Though what side they would be on he wasn’t sure.

Fashionably late to the party, Tony spotted Thor stomping his way over to them, a furious expression on his face and a partly drunk and ready to throw-down Valkyrie at his heels.

“What is the meaning of this?” Thor demanded, summoning Stormbreaker to his hand, pointing it warningly at Maximoff, daring her to try anything in his presence.

“That I believe is the million dollar question we’d all like to know” Strange exclaimed, narrowing his eyes at the two magic users.

While he knew there was no love lost between Loki and Maximoff, Strange sincerely doubted Loki would attack the Witch with a spell of such magnitude without a cause or provocation.

When everyone sans the original group, Thor and Valkyrie turned to Loki for an explanation (an action that caused Tony to scowl indignantly in righteous anger) the sorcerer merely snarled and said, “It is not I you should be demanding an explanation from”.

Wanda flinched at all the eyes now zeroing in on her, clutching her children tighter to her chest. Not even Vision’s arm wrapping itself around her shoulders was able to provide any comfort to her in the situation.

Tony just grit his teeth at the Witch’s silence.

This was _bullshit_.

“ _How?_ ” Tony demanded, his tone fierce, unforgiving, and unrelenting as he stared Maximoff down, crossing his arms over his chest, his eyes making it clear he wasn’t going anywhere without an explanation.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Wanda replied, trying very hard to steel her nerves as she failed to meet Tony’s unloving, accusing glare.

“Don’t insult our intelligence” Tony rebuked, narrowing his eyes at the Witch.

He wasn’t about to let her play the innocent card now.

“Tony you can’t be seriously taking the word of a two year old as fact” Steve cut it, trying to get the engineer to back off with logic and reasoning.

“Did you know about this?” Tony demanded sharply, whirling on the former soldier, a familiar and wholly unsurprising sting of betrayal burning through him.

“There’s nothing to _know_ , Tony. You’re making monsters out of shadows” Steve retorted sharply right back, wholly unimpressed with the genius’ attitude.

“We’re really gonna play this broken record again Rogers?” Tony bit out.

“Oh my God Tony. I know you’ve never completely forgiven me for lying to you about your parents’ deaths, but I’m telling you, this time there is no secret, no lie, no omission” Steve firmly exclaimed, annoyance and frustration laced throughout his words, “Just your paranoia and distrust”

“Last I checked both are well documentedly warranted” Tony countered right back.

“Perhaps” Sharon relented, jumping into the argument, “But even you have to admit you’re grasping at straws here”

“Any of you here actually feel like sharing with the rest of the class?” Clint cut in, fed up with all the back and forth without any real explanation to what was really going on.

“Tony thinks Wanda somehow stole his sperm” Steve deadpanned, letting his disappointment in Tony’s childishness bleed through his tone.

Steve knew that Tony and Wanda would never be friends or even acquaintances, but this whole situation was just proof that Tony wasn’t capable of letting go of the past and that he let those experiences color his present judgement and rationale.

Clint let out a loud snort.

“Right because Strange hasn’t had her locked up tight in Kamar-Taj for the last several years” Clint dismissed, though his eyes narrowed like arrowheads at Stark, intentionally aiming his next words at the man’s vital spots, “Unless you’re openly admitting to cheating on your spouse”

“Clint Barton!” Laura reprimanded, her voice loud enough to be heard even twenty feet away, sounding both aghast and appalled by her husband’s counter accusation.

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!!!”

There wasn’t a single person who didn't flinch at Tony’s uncharacteristic break in composure.

“I DARE YOU TO SAY THAT AGAIN!!!” Tony roared, his eyes glowing arc reactor blue as he bared his teeth at Barton, just about ready to lunge at the son-of-a-bitch and beat his face into the linoleum.

“How dare you accuse my brother-in-law of being unfaithful to my Brother!” Thor exclaimed in righteous fury, thunder now crackling wildly around Stormbreaker.

‘I _had_ always wanted to clip the useless bird’ Loki thought menacingly, taking advantage of the fact that everyone was paying more attention to his husband and Brother and not the silently plotting wrathful snake.

Seeing that things were going south and fast, Rhodey quickly plucked a stunned Jamie from Loki’s arms, rubbing small circles in the confused child’s back.

‘Tony and Loki are going to kick themselves later for letting themselves get carried away around the kids’ he thought grimly, passing his nephew off to Monica,”Take him to the obstacle course outside. Morgan should be out there with the rest of the pee wees”

Monica gave Rhodey a reluctant nod, Carol giving her pseudo-niece a pat on the arm before she silently slunk unnoticed through the crowd with a squirming Jamie in her arms.

“Then explain to us, oh self-proclaimed genius, how the twins could be yours? Go on. Cause I’d love to hear this little conspiracy theory” Clint challenged, refusing to back down, though he did have to fight not to wince at the disappointed glares Laura was boring into the back of his head.

Seeing that Tony was a nano-second away from throttling Clint, Sam immediately cut in.

"It's not _impossible_ " Sam corrected firmly, attempting to play mediator, "But remember, Wanda used a sperm donor to conceive the twins. So isn't it more likely that she just chose someone who happened to look like you?" 

“Exactly” Steve agreed, his tone unwavering and assured.

Tony turned his electric blue eyes on Steve, giving him the vicious stink eye before turning back to glare at Wanda.

Tony had to admit that Sam’s theory sounded legit.

That statistically it was more probable that Maximoff had picked someone who had looked enough like him that she could lie to herself and say that the twins were actually his.

That read a hundred layers of fucked up and proved that Maximoff was still a.) not over him, and b.) still mentally unstable.

Yay him.

But he wasn’t about to tolerate how everyone was now looking at him as if he and Loki were the unhinged ones here.

"Then why would she tell the twins that _I'm_ their Father?" Tony challenged, daring Sam to try and publicly deny that Wanda wasn’t still in fact mentally unwell and unhealthily obsessed with him.

Naturally he was met by dead silence.

Nobody said a word as they glanced between the two of them, Sam shifting uncomfortably back and forth as he tried to find a way to word things in a way that wouldn’t instigate either side.

“We all know that Wanda has been dealing with mental illness for some time now. While yes this may demonstrate a need to take another look into her medications and to get her a better therapist, it does not mean there is actually any legitimacy behind the paternity claims” Natasha observed, “The fact that you’re still harping on the improbable likelihood of it is worrying”

Tony grit his teeth at the low hums of agreement from those around him.

“Then can you absolutely confirm for me that the twins are not in fact biologically related to me at all? Cause I find it hard to believe that you of all people wouldn’t have tested the twins DNA at some point to see just who their donor was for the sake of safety and security, regardless of the fact that they obviously share similar features to myself” Tony challenged right back, scowling when Natasha’s face flickered between blank and rolling her eyes at him.

In contrast to his wife who was focusing on Stark, Bucky was busy scrutinizing the twins.

He’s seen three generations of Starks now...And Maximoff’s kids…

No. Logically it wasn’t the most probable explanation.

“I can understand not trusting Maximoff, but...Maybe it would be best if the two of you saw a therapist yourselves in order to start working through some of your past trauma stemming from it” Sharon suggested, trying not to sound too accusatory or judgemental as Tony only seemed to get more and more wound up and ignored fact and logic.

“Contrary to all your apparent beliefs at the moment I’m not crazy. I’d just like someone to give me some hard evidence that Maximoff’s obsession with me didn’t cross any more lines” Tony grit out defensively, ignoring the increasingly pitying and concerned looks.

Fuck all of them.

_He wasn’t crazy._

“Wow” Clint scoffed, “Paranoid narcissist much?”

“That is enough” T’Challa exclaimed, making his way over to the group, his posture firm, and regal, his eyes unyielding and calm, “This is not the time nor place to be discussing such matters”

“It wasn’t us who started it” Wanda exclaimed, narrowing a furious glare at Loki, letting her eyes flash red for the briefest of moments.

“I should have ended your miserable excuse of an existence years ago” Loki retorted, flashing his own eyes green at the Witch’s silent challenge.

“You two are forever destined to remain thorns in my side aren’t you?” Strange ground out annoyed.

“You tell us oh great Stone Keeper” Loki quipped, though his tone lacked its usual light-hearted sarcasm.

“Silence. If a temporary truce cannot be achieved then I believe it would be best if one of you vacated the premises” T’Challa unflinchingly proclaimed at the rising tensions between the two magic users, “This is supposed to be a joyous occasion celebrating the end to a war. Not the start of another one”

“Considering the fact my family and I have only just arrived it’s only fair the Witch and her spawn graciously volunteer” Loki clipped.

“Why should we?” Wanda retorted, no longer a trace of hesitance or nerves in her tone, “Viz and I have never celebrated at the Compound before and neither have the twins. They don’t deserve to be excluded and deprived of fun because of your jealousy”

“ _Jealousy_ ” Loki parroted mockingly, giving Maximoff a dark chuckle, “Due pray tell in your latest delusion how you’ve come to that conclusion”

“Because despite your attempts to break me and rub your marriage and family in my face I still found a way to be happy and have the twins!” Wanda spat out, clinging to her confused children with pride, ignoring Vision’s warning grip on her shoulder.

Loki scoffed.

“Yes. I’m jealous of you. An ill woman suffering from psychosis, who trapped in unaccepting denial, told two poor young boys lies about their true father’s paternity because you couldn’t accept the reality that the object of your obsession married someone else” Loki viciously sneered.

“That’s enough!” T’Challa commanded, sounding fed up, “Clearly there are unresolved issues and traumas that need to be appropriately dealt with. For some more so than others. Regardless, I refuse to condone any of you continuing to deride your fellow comrades on the basis of their mental illness. Especially in front of the children. Justified rage or not”

Loki shot the King an annoyed glare, but complied none-the-less, gratified that he could at least get that little dig in, the enraged look on Maximoff’s face entirely worth the chastisement.

“Bagira is right” Tony grudgingly admitted, though he didn’t like T’Challa silently lumping him in with Maximoff under the category of mentally ill (his past history of PTSD and Major Depressive Disorder notwithstanding, he was nothing like Maximoff), “We’ve scared the kids enough. We’re supposed to be here celebrating the day we squashed the Giant Grape, not reenacting the Avengers’ Civil War”

“I couldn’t agree more” Steve exclaimed, relieved that Tony was finally starting to see reason again now that he was calming down. That was a good sign that it still wasn’t too late for him to start getting some help.

“Do us all a favor and keep your comments to yourself Rogers” Rhodey barbed, narrowing his eyes at the super soldier.

“So then where does that leave us?” Vision inquired for clarity's sake.

“It leaves you all putting on your big kid panties and pretending that you didn’t just try and kill each other. _Again_ ” Everett Ross exclaimed, with a mocking clap, “Shouldn’t be too hard seeing as you’ve all had plenty of practice”

After a tense momentary staredown the two groups slowly (reluctantly) released their stances, silently and begrudgingly agreeing to postpone their...discussion for a later time.

“Come” Thor beckoned his Brothers, his tone still tense and irate, “We can rejoin Jane in her discussions with Selvig and Lady Helen on their latest research developments”

“How boring” Valkyrie dralled, watching as the former Rogues crossed their way over to Maximoff and Vision, “I didn’t even get a chance to chuck my bottle at anyone”

Tony looped his arm around Loki’s, gently massaging it to both calm and reassure him as he gave his husband a look that clearly emphasized, ‘Not now’.

‘Soon’ Loki’s eyes swore back.

Tony nodded in firm agreement as the two of them followed Thor and Valkyrie over to a more secluded area of the festivities, giving Rhodey and Carol a grateful nod as they made their way over to Harley and Peter.

Nothing was going to stop him and Loki from finding out the truth.

Nothing.

Even if people thought that Loki was now the crazy violent one.

Even if a majority of the Avengers now thought he needed to be in the Funny House.

Even if the truth only amounted to confirming what they all already assumed: That Maximoff was having yet another delusional episode and needed stronger meds.

_They weren’t crazy._

_He wasn’t crazy._

They just needed to know for certain.

With everything that’s happened to them in the past he wasn’t being paranoid right?

Well, paranoid to the point it classified him as mentally ill right?

Sure it was more probable she just chose a donor that looked like him. And there was no way she could’ve had access to his sperm (their house was warded after all). And she’s not Helen so it’s not like she can create cells and clone children even if she got ahold of his DNA.

……Though she has mind whammied Helen in the past…

No.

That was ridiculous.

His mind was just going haywire. Thinking up all the possibilities. That’s all.

_He wasn’t crazy._

_Maximoff_ was crazy.

It was her fault his mind was in overdrive like this.

Her crazy was making him cra-hyperalert. Hyperalert. That’s what he was. Hyperalert.

‘I’m not crazy’ Tony repeated to himself, the words almost like a mantra now, helping him to reassure himself and ignore the concerned assessing glances that seemed to be surrounding him.

Mentally brushing them off, Tony risked a glance at the Witch in question...And regretted it immediately.

Tony watched as Vision floated away with the twins to who-knows-where, leaving Wanda the jelly inside the ex-Rogues donut.

From what he could make out of their body language Tony had no doubt that Clint, Sam, Sharon, and Steve were trying to comfort Wanda about the whole ordeal.

Then suddenly, almost as if she had sensed his eyes on her, Wanda’s gaze shifted to his.

Tony’s muscles coiled as Wanda’s eyes softened at him, her gaze almost distant and...longing.

A chill colder than the Arctic winds made its way up Tony’s spine.

No.

Maximoff couldn’t possibly think-

No.

He was overthinking things.

He _had_ to be overthinking things.

Maximoff knew by now nothing between them was ever going to change.

……Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "The definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting a different result" ~ quote of unknown origin (not actually quoted by Albert Einstein)


	2. Between Chaos and Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi All!
> 
> This chapter is a doozy!
> 
> Enjoy!

**(Third POV)**

_“You think this is over. But the seeds of Madness have already been planted” a mockingly vicious voice warned._

_“To my wonderful minions of the World” Tony exclaimed, arms wide as he addressed the sea of his loyal citizens below him, the news drones circling the Tower’s balcony and displaying the image feed on countless screens around the world, “I’m kidding. I’m kidding!”_

_Laughter erupted from below at their King’s usual sarcastic humor._

_“As much as you all cannot get enough of my pretty face, we are all gathered here today for a far more exciting bit of gossip” Tony continued on, Peter and Harley making their way over to stand on his left, standing regal and proud beside their Father._

_“Allow me to present to all of you, the newest members of the Stark Royal Family” Tony proudly proclaimed, reaching his arm back to invite the last of his precious people beside him._

_“William James and Thomas Edwin Stark”_

_“It could be real. All this could be real...Everything you’ve ever desired” a haunting sultry voice enticed._

_“I, Loki, Prince of Asgard. Odinson. The rightful king of Jotunheim. God of Mischief. Do hereby pledge to you, my undying fidelity” Loki beseeched, bowing to the Mad Titan as he subtly conjured one of his daggers hidden behind his hand._

_Only this time there was no timely intervention._

With a horrified gasp Loki sprang up from the covers, greedily sucking in air as he clutched his throat in his panic, the phantom sting of fingers ghosting his senses as he momentarily failed to register his surroundings.

Realizing that he wasn’t dead, Loki willed his heart to slow. To relax.

Rubbing his hand harshly against his face Loki finally took notice to the empty bed beside him.

“Did Anthony have a mission?” Loki exhaled out his words still unsteady.

The happy rays peeking through the curtains and warming their bed was a mockery of what his morning should have been.

_“Yes. Boss was called away to assist the Avengers in fighting Doctor Doom” HUGIN relayed._

Loki scowled at the mention of the techno-sorcerer.

The new Latverian King has been quite a large thorn in their side as of late with his near obsessive hatred of that Richards brat and an annoying fascination with Anthony.

While he typically insisted upon joining missions that included the disfigured King, if Anthony hadn’t bothered to wake him then that meant Strange had been deployed instead.

Whelp. Now his mood has officially tanked to the lowest realms of Hel.

Loki aggressively ran his hands through his hair.

Not feeling like taking the tedious effort to get ready Loki merely conjured his usual formal green attires.

Enough was enough.

It was time he found out just what his so-called dreams were trying to tell him.

Preferably before he lost his mind.

But his loss of sanity could wait until after breakfast. He had two devious little munchkins to rouse from their nightly slumbers. The thought marginally lightened his mood, allowing him to put on a smile for his children.

He just hoped that Anthony was having a better day than him.

* * *

Tony was ready to jump out of his own damn skin.

Everything was too loud or too quiet. Too bright or too dark. Too enclosed or too open. Too...something, everything. And it was driving him up the wall.

His anxiety was through the roof and nothing he did made him feel that he or his family were safe.

Not working on his suits. Not his upgrades to the arc reactors. Or even Strange and Loki’s protection spells.

To make things better his night terrors were back with a vengeance and he hasn’t had more than 4 hours of concurrent sleep in almost a week.

And for the icing on the cake he was currently sitting in a mission debriefing room at the Compound surrounded by a group he wouldn’t fully trust even if Thanos himself came back to kill them all.

Except Rogers and Wilson didn’t seem to get the memo and took it upon themselves to plant their asses in each of the rolly chairs on either side of him, giving him concerned glances throughout the entire meeting.

Yes he knew he was constantly fidgeting. Yes he knew he wasn’t hiding his breathing techniques or noticeable exhaustion very well, the dark circles under his eyes prominently displayed to all those around him (he didn’t have time to put on makeup and drink his coffee okay!). 

But he was _fine_. Or at least they were supposed to _think_ he was fine and not look at him like he was falling apart at the seams (he was, but he was _fine_ ).

He dealt with this after Afghanistan and after New York and he’ll deal with it now too.

“Thanks to Strange sending the fight into Mirror dimension a majority of the damage was kept to a minimum of none despite the sheer number of Doombots that never ceases to amaze me” Rhodey exclaimed in grateful exasperation to the absentee wizard who deemed said mission debriefing a low priority on his busy schedule.

“Let’s hope the rest of the world doesn’t pick up on magical assembly lines or else we’d all be out of work” Scott jested, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere.

“Better yet we lock Doom and Reed in their own dimension for a week. Best case scenario they come out a couple. Worst case they kill each other. Either way it’s a win win” Clint grumbled sarcastically.

_"Why won't you just give us a chance?" Wanda pleaded, her face now mere inches from Tony's, "Everyone else can see that we'd be amazing together. Why can't you?"_

Tony’s hands clenched.

“A couple?” Steve parroted, his eyebrows scrunching in skeptical confusion.

“Fine line between love and hate Cap” Clint casually defended.

_"I'm not the one who needs help" Wanda countered viciously, "If you're too stubborn to see past our negative history then I'll just remove those memories so we can start fresh"_

Tony’s breath stuttered.

“At the very least you don’t resent someone on that level unless there is some kind of deeper connection. No matter the form” Wanda agreed, her words knowing and sure, turning to gaze at each of the room’s occupants before her eyes roamed past Tony’s, holding his gaze for just a beat longer than the others, almost unnoticeable.

Almost.

_Staring into Maximoff's eyes Tony immediately recognized the stubborn resolution boring down into his soul._

_The last time he saw eyes like that he was left dying in a bunker in Siberia._

_Maximoff was never going to let this go._

“Tony”

_Tony’s muscles coiled as Wanda’s eyes softened at him, her gaze almost distant and...longing._

“Tony!”

_The maniacal grin returned to Wanda's face, "So you do see it after all. That we are destined to be together"_

“Tony!!”

He couldn’t breath.

“Give him space he’s in the middle of a flashback!”

“His face is turning red!”

“Tony you need to breathe! Focus on the sound of my voice!”

_Red._

_“Put a little hot rod red in there while you’re at it”_

_A symbol of his sins._

_Red._

_A vision of death and destruction at the hands of another invasion...Everyone dead because we weren't prepared...Because I hadn't done more._

_Red._

_Ultron’s eyes._

_Red. Red. Red._

“Tony you’re going to pass out if you don’t calm your breathing” a firm commanding, yet concerned voice proclaimed.

Steve.

_Suddenly he found himself pinned to the floor. He back against snow and concrete as his helmet was repeatedly struck at it’s connecting neck joint until it snapped off, leaving his face vulnerable an open, the subzero temperatures slicing at his skin...But he felt none of it...Only manic desperation in Steve’s eyes as he raised the shield above his head one last time…_

_He was going to die._

“Get the hell away from him!”

“Steve man I know you want to help, but aside from Wanda you are literally the last person who should be near him right now”

“Um...Would flicking water on him help or something?”

_“Put him under”_

“No” Tony croaked out, his voice gasping, “Not again”

_He tried and tried, but his lungs were burning. He couldn’t hold it any longer._

_They held him under even as his traitorous lungs gulped in the filthy water as if it were air._

“Yes Lang, because dowsing someone who’s been waterboarded and is already experiencing a crippling flashback won’t cause more problems”

“...My bad”

“This is the first time I’m hearing of it”

“Seriously Clint? The 'hedonistic ex-playboy' didn’t have any bathtubs or pools in the Tower. That didn't strike you as odd?”

“How about everyone minus Rhodes just back the hell away”

_“You think you’re always right Stark” Steve sneered, crossing his arms over his chest, “You think you’ve beaten us. Cowed us. Just because we have to listen to the Accords. To let Rhodes and Danvers lead”_

_“Well here’s a newsflash for you Stank” Clint grinned, his smile sharper than one of his arrows, “You fell for it hook line and sinker”_

_“Sorry man, but you’re broken and need help. A lot of help. And we needed you to see that too” Sam explained, his tone firm._

_“We lulled you into a false sense of security, waiting for our chance to strike. We just needed to let you think that you were in control” Natasha stated, her tone bored as she flicked the knife in her hand._

_“But you’re not”_

_“I am” Wanda proclaimed, a maniacal smirk extending ear to ear, her eyes glowing red as blood._

“No. No it’s not real...She’s controlling all of you” Tony muttered desperately.

“Tony it’s Rhodey. You're hallucinating. Whatever you're seeing isn't real. You need to focus on my voice” Rhodey commanded.

'Please go away' Tony mentally pleaded.

“Listen to the sound of my voice and follow me. In one two three four. Out one two three four”

He couldn’t.

“ _Try_ ” Rhodey pleaded, “In one two three four. Out one two three four”

In. One. Two. Three. Four.

Out. One. Two Three. Four.

“Good” Rhodey breathed, “Again”

In. One. Two. Three. Four.

Out. One. Two Three. Four.

“Again”

In. One. Two. Three. Four.

Out. One. Two Three. Four.

The room was no longer swirling.

Colors no longer blended together.

There was someone in front of him.

His Honeybear.

“Rhodey” Tony breathed.

Shit he felt like he’d just gone a few rounds outside the suit with a truck...And the truck won.

“Thank God” Rhodey exclaimed in relief.

Of course then Tony realized just where he was.

Shit fuck balls.

“Whoa whoa whoa easy” Rhodey scolded as Tony forced himself to get up, dizzy or not, supporting his friend’s arms.

Tony just grit his teeth in fury, steeling his expression and pretending as if he didn’t just have a major attack in front of a room full of people he would call forced colleagues at best.

All of whom were looking at him with a frustrating amount of pity, holding their body language in a way that ensured they were not threatening, as if he were some skittish rabbit.

“Today’s entertainment is done. If the debrief is over I have more important things to attend to” Tony exclaimed, his tone hard as he moved to exit the glass prison he was in.

“Like getting help?” Sam retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.

Tony halted in his step to give Wilson a frigid glare, “From all of you? I’d be better off asking Modok or the Mandarin”

“Look I know you’re defensive right now because you had an attack in front of a bunch of people you have a bad history with, and having me tell you what to do is the last thing you want to hear, but it’s a fact Stark. A concrete undeniable fact that you need a real therapist” Sam countered refusing to back down.

"I'll be sure to pass your critiques along to Doc Samson next time I see him" Tony sarcastically barbed.

“Are you?” Steve questioned sternly, skeptically, taking a step forward as he crossed his arms across his chest in his firm no-nonsense stance.

“I think we’ve already established that I’d be best if you didn’t talk Mr. Rogers. And don’t make me have to repeat myself. I already told all of you to back up” Carol firmly cut in, stepping between the two.

Tony’s insides turned frozen solid, a cold he knew no amount of heated blankets or warm showers could fix, but he refused to show any more weakness then he already had.

“The only people here who have a right to be concerned regarding anything related to me in any way are Rhodey and Carol” Tony stated pointedly back, his tone tight.

“You’re wrong” Steve firmly proclaimed, not backing down.

_“You’re always wrong Stark. You’re too impulsive and never seek out help” Steve sneered, crossing his arms over his chest, “Why do you think people like Stane were able to get away with using you? Why your Malibu Mansion was blown up? Why Ultron came online?”_

“None of that was solely on me” Tony snapped back viciously, glaring heatedly at Steve whose face was now a mix of bewildered and concerned.

“...”

“What?!” Tony demanded angrily, getting more pissed off at the second looking around the room at everyone’s surprised and worried expressions.

“It’s hard...I know...Telling what is reality...I can help you find tricks that work for you. To help you tell what’s real or not” Wanda hesitantly offered, her voice gentle.

_“Your mind belongs to me” Wanda exclaimed, her crazed eyes as red as her hands, “ **You** belong to me”_

“No” Tony paled, taking unsteady panicked steps back, “Get away from me”

“I believe it is best we all leave” Vision cut in, gliding in front of Wanda in order to block her appearance from Tony’s line of sight, hoping to snap him out of whatever he was seeing.

Wanda opened her mouth to argue, but Clint cut her off.

“Stark needs help and you and Steve being here isn’t doing him any good. I know you’d be the best person to help him through this but you need to give him space first to get through the worst of it” Clint advised her, holding her arms reassuringly.

“But he thinks-”

“It’s not you it’s the PTSD” Sam assured her.

“ **Out** ” Rhodey demanded, fed up, his tone commanding and final.

“You heard the man” Natasha smoothly proclaimed, a casual seriousness to her tone, though her pointed glare let them know she wouldn’t hesitate to literally kick them out of the room.

She had seen enough.

Carol personally made sure to escort the ex-Rogues far enough away that she knew they wouldn’t be listening in (Friday already scanned for any of the Widow and Hawk’s little bugs).

“I’m not even going to bother asking you if you’re okay” Rhodey stated, sounding both worried and exhausted, “Considering your past history of lying to me about your health”

“I got a handle on this before and I will again” Tony tried to assure him, but his voice was pathetic even to himself.

Truthfully all he wanted right now was a nap...But he knew exactly what would happen if he even tried.

“I believe you” Carol stated confidently.

“I hear a ‘but’ at the end of that sentence” Tony exclaimed, raising an eyebrow at her.

“But right now I think it would be best for you to take a leave of absence” Carol proclaimed, not beating around the bush.

“You’re kicking me off the Team?!” Tony furiously exclaimed.

_“Iron man: Yes. Tony Stark: Not recommended”_

“Tony you’re flashing back at everything and hallucinating” Rhodey implored to him, “You’ve been lucky so far, but what if that happens on the field? You’d never forgive yourself if you hurt someone or made a mistake that got people hurt because you were caught in a flashback”

Tony grit his teeth in frustration at Rhodey’s admittedly valid points.

“It’ll only be temporary” Carol promised.

“The second Doc Samson gives you the green light I promise you will be out on the first available mission” Rhodey tried to assure him.

_“You were a useful burden. Now you’re just obsolete” Rhodey proclaimed, grinning in vicious relief, as if saying what he’d wanted to say for years._

“Right. A burden. Liability. Got it. Let me know if you need my money or toys” Tony sneered, turning away with a defensive huff.

“Tony!”

“Tony!”

He didn’t look back.

If they didn’t want him then fine.

He had a new project he’d been putting off for some time now that he was long overdue to start.

* * *

Only when he finally set foot on his personal R&D floor in Stark Tower did some of the tension lift from his shoulders.

“Anthony” Loki called out, getting his husband’s attention where he sat on one of the many plush couches Tony had ordered for him.

“My day just got a whole lot better” Tony exclaimed, a weight lifting off his shoulders when he spotted the love of his life. The man he knew would always be in his corner and burn down the world for him (or better yet the ex-Rogues).

“I take it the mission did not go well then?” Loki inquired curiously, quickly making his way over to Tony.

“I was there. Of course the mission was a success” Tony brushed off in false arrogance, sounding almost manic, “No. I’m talking about the fact I had a nice little audience for my latest attack”

“Are you alright?” Loki asked immediately, wrapping his arms around Tony’s waist in concern.

“Always” Tony muttered, lacing his arms behind Loki’s neck as he rested his forehead against the other man’s shoulder.

Of course Loki didn’t believe such a pathetic lie.

“And then to top everything off with a little cherry Rhodey and Carol placed me on temporary leave until I can get a bill of wellness from my therapist proving I’m _mentally well enough_ for the field” Tony scowled, his voice irate and mocking.

Logically he could understand that from an outside point of view he probably looked like he was just shy of the Kookaburras nest.

But it still hurt.

It hurt that Rhodey wasn’t _here_ trying to help him. No matter in what form that may be.

“Then use it to your advantage” Loki proclaimed, a sharp glint in his eyes, “Let them believe your therapist agreed that in order for you to have closure and let things go you need to...research. Gather information in order to prove or deny your hypothesis” 

“Have I mentioned recently that I love that devious brain of yours?” Tony cooed, his eyes sparkling with mirth, “But, great minds think alike, I already sent a list of places for Friday to hack into. By the end of today we’ll at least know if the twins are actually mine or not”

Loki nodded silently, his expression going grim and apologetic.

Seeing the sudden reluctance on his husband’s face Tony narrowed his eyes at him, “What is it? Are Morgan, Jamie, Harley, and Peter okay?”

“They are fine. Morgan and Jamie are with my oaf of a brother and his wife. Harley and Peter are safe at their homes” Loki assured him.

“But” Tony prompted, his voice tight.

He wasn’t sure he could handle any more bad news today.

“I am returning to New Asgard” Loki reluctantly revealed.

Tony blinked in surprise.

“I need to understand what my visions mean” Loki proclaimed, his voice just shy of desperate, tightening his grip around his love’s waist as if to protect him.

“You’re going to the Water of Sights” Tony stated, knowing, a crinkling forming in his brows, “You’re going to let yourself be possessed by some all-seeing spirit of prophecy and destiny and hope that they don’t fry your brain”

“My dreams are trying to warn us of something. And in order to protect us, our family, I need to know what” Loki defended, taking Tony’s hands in his own imploringly, “Just as you need to find the truth of those infernal duplicate Maximoff spawns for our family, I need to do this for us”

Tony let out a heavy sigh, squeezing his husband’s hands once before letting them go.

“Alright then. Go on your little journey of enlightenment. I’ll be here waiting for you to come back and tell you that predetermined destinies are a load of crap” Tony jested, giving Loki a smirk before leaning forward to give him a chaste kiss.

“With how busy you’ll soon be you won’t even notice I’m gone” Loki smirked, stealing a deeper biting kiss.

“Part of me misses you already” Tony exclaimed, giving his husband a sultry smirk.

Exhausted or not it wasn’t every day all the kids were out of the house.

“My tempting little minx” Loki purred, bringing his lips close to Tony’s ear, “Alas, until we meet again”

In a blink Loki teleported away in a flash of green, leaving Tony alone in his lab.

“Tease” Tony grumbled good-naturedly.

But his husband was right. He had work to do.

“Friday how’s the digging coming?” he inquired, technopathically flicking up his holoscreens.

_“Almost done Boss. Working on hospital records now” Friday confidently relayed._

“Okay” Tony spoke aloud, running his hands through his hair as he paced back and forth, calming the anxiety that was starting to return now that Loki was no longer here to distract him, “Facts. Facts. What do I know?”

1.) Maximoff has twins. And she tells the twins I’m the father.

Have Friday find all known records of the twins’ conception to their birth. Check.

2.) Nobody actually believes the possibility the twins are his except him and Loki.

Skepticism. He could understand that...Now if only some people would shift that skepticism to the Witch that would be great.

3.) Wanda is suddenly back to being the damsel in distress and he and Loki were the villains.

Team Infantilism is back with a vengeance...Suspect, but not wholly unusual. TBD.

4.) Loki’s been having weird dreams and his “PTSD” has supposedly been acting up again.

It was like Strucker’s Base and the Salvage Yard all over again.

His PTSD had been fine until she gotten into his head.

Hell Loki even just up and left for the damn near exact same reason as Thor after Maximoff got into his head!

There was no way any of this was a coincidence!

The question though was _how_.

He had an arc reactor on him in some form or another any time he left the sanctity of one of his many facilities or homes that also ran on and were shielded by arc reactor technology.

So _how_ did she get past it?

_“Boss. Mr. and Mrs. Romanoff-Barnes are in the Lobby asking for you" Friday informed him with a discontented grumble._

Tony's eyebrows hit his hairline.

While he and the Itsy Bitsy Spider still spoke, he and Tasty Freeze never associated with each other outside of missions.

According to Natasha it was just her husband being respectful of his boundaries and letting Tony decide the terms of their 'relationship'.

He and Barnes had (stiffly and awkwardly) apologized to one another after the fight with Thanos, but he'd kept their 'relationship' nothing more than acquaintances and Barnes had (to him, unexpectedly) respected that.

Ironically enough because of that Barnes was a step above the ex-Rogues on his trust scale.

A fact that both frustrated and relieved Rogers.

"Did they happen to say why they are knocking on my doorstep?" Tony inquired, thoroughly skeptical.

If it was about his mental health he swore-

_"The Widow says she knows that you're gathering information on the twins and to not to waste your time as you were right" Friday told him, sounding slightly confused and suspicious._

"Well I'm always right" Tony muttered, tapping the arc reactor in thought, "But what specifically is she-"

_"Then can you absolutely confirm for me that the twins are not in fact biologically related to me at all? Cause I find it hard to believe that you of all people wouldn’t have tested the twins DNA at some point to see just who their donor was for the sake of safety and security, regardless of the fact that they obviously share similar features to myself” Tony challenged right back._

Well well well.

Curiosity peaked.

"Send'm up" Tony commanded, his plush racing in anticipation.

_"You were right"_

A wide self-satisfied smirk made its way into Tony's face.

He knew he wasn't crazy.

* * *

Drip drip drip drop.

Loki listened to the rhythmic patter of the water droplets descending into the waters below.

Though the cave was dark a single opening in the ceiling allowed rays of light to shine down, illuminating the crystal clear pool below it.

It was time.

He would discover what his dreams foretold...or die trying.

* * *

"I'd like this to go on record as the second time you've told me that I'm right" Tony teasingly proclaimed, trying to keep the atmosphere light despite his unease and tension.

"You know how much it pains me to feed your ego" Natasha played along, strutting into the lab with Bucky close on her heels.

"So, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, let's not beat around the bush here. Why should I believe you're suddenly playing turncoat for my side and not spying on me for Rogers?" Tony challenged, narrowing his eyes at the duo.

"Because we think the Witch is playing mind games with all of us again" Bucky exclaimed, his tone colder than Siberia and his eyes sharper than its howling winds.

As shiver involuntarily made its way up Tony's spine.

"Explain" Tony demanded, all traces of levity gone.

If Tony knew one thing and one thing with absolute certainty, it was Barnes would never joke about something like mind control.

"I still use BARF to help with my PTSD and nightmares" Bucky began, his tone harder than steel, his arms crossing his chest as if to protect himself, "That night on Avengers' day I had a particularly bad night terror. Flashes of the chair mixed with red. Images of the party laced with the electrical agony of my brain rewiring"

Tony said nothing as he gazed into grief and suffering of another person who knew what it was like to be unmade.

"So naturally I used BARF to correct the errors in my cognition. To help me understand that what I saw wasn't real so that I could go back to sleep" Bucky continued, his tone mockingly casual as he shrugged his shoulders, imitating that it should have been simple and no big deal.

Tony was waiting for the catch. The punchline he knew was coming.

"Color me surprised when I used BARF and realized that it wasn't a night terror, but something more akin to when Shuri and I first started piecing my mind back together after removing my triggers" Bucky sneered, his grip tightening almost painfully around his arms.

"BARF works by hijacking the hippocampus and connecting to the neurons in the brain...In theory if something was affecting the neurons in your brain to function in a particular way you'd notice as you wouldn't be able to alter the memory or thought as easily as you would normally be able to" Tony hypothesized, narrowing his eyes at just what Barnes was implying.

"During your confrontation with Maximoff on Avengers' day, every time I went back to mentally listing the 'pros' of the twins’ biological relation to you I found myself back in my 'cons' column" Bucky proclaimed, his tone sharper than any blade he or Natasha carried.

The hairs on the back of Tony's neck stood on end.

"I would take careful note of the similar shade of brown, the similar shape of the eyes, chin, and ears. But every time I opened my mouth to point out the similarities in the twins’ appearance to you, Morgan, and Jamie I would suddenly find myself...stalled. Thinking of other logical explanations" Bucky grit out, his seething anger making it harder and harder to calmly voice his rationale.

Seeing her husband struggling to maintain his composure Natasha cut in.

"Every time I would try to analyze further into Wanda’s body language, or file her relief at Sam and Steve's defence away to investigate for later, I found myself brushing it off" Natasha began, leaning against one of the many work tables, "When you outright challenged why I hadn't investigated the twins' paternity my first thought was: I would have. Only to have my mind push its attention away from Wanda and back to your irrationality"

Tony wasn't even bothering to hide the tremor in his hands.

"And you know if Wanda's behind this...Manipulated Bucky and I in order to keep us from digging around the twins' origins…" Natasha trailed off, leaving Tony to fill in the rest.

Tony swallowed hard, "Then we know she's likely done it to the others as well".

Rogers. Barton. Wilson.

Suddenly the return of Team Infantilism made sense.

Oh God Rhodey and Carol.

Hell even T'Challa had been acting _slightly_ off Avengers' day.

Loki's dreams. The resurgence of his PTSD.

Just the thought of Maximoff having been playing around with all their minds again…

Well...He had to agree with the look in Barnes' eyes.

The Bitch was _dead_.

"So she's hiding something about the twins" Tony began, trying to recompose himself, "You wouldn't happen to know what the Witch is hiding in that pointy hat of her's would you?"

"No" Natasha stated almost dismissively, before pulling out two vials and her wrist computer from her pocket, "But we can find out"

* * *

Loki gasped for blessed air as he clawed his way out of the Water of Sights, soaked to the bone and near the edge of giving in to the darkness of exhaustion.

He...He needed...He needed to warn…

* * *

"So tell me again how you managed to get both DNA samples and energy readings off of the kids without Mother Gothal knowing?" Tony inquired again, still in stunned disbelief as the three of them waited for the results of Friday's analysis.

"Steve called a Team meeting-" Natasha began.

"Ignoring the fact he isn't a leader of the Avengers nor did he invite anyone who hadn't been a Rogue" Tony corrected.

"To discuss your mental health-" Natasha continued briefly, rolling her eyes at Tony's antics.

"When I wasn't there" Tony unapologetically cut in again.

"Natasha and I wore the necklace and watch you had crafted for us back when Maximoff first went off the crazy train. The ones with the mini arc reactors in them" Bucky picked up, seeing that Tony was intentionally trolling Nat, "We kept them hidden under our clothes and when no one was looking I pocketed the napkins I used to wipe the kids' mouths during the picnic, and Natasha used her watch to scan their bodies when teaching them better stealth during hide-and-seek"

"Assassins. Can't take'm anywhere" Tony jested with an amused snort, impressed by their ingenuity.

It sure as hell made things easier that was for sure.

_"The results are in Boss" Friday relayed, sounding uncertain._

"Lay it on us Baby Girl. Tony Stark iiiissss. Drum roll please"

_"...Tony Stark is the biological father of the twins William James and Thomas Edwin Maximoff" Friday timidly relayed._

"..."

"..."

"..."

"......."

"............"

".................HOW THE FUCK IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE???!!!"

Tony couldn't think.

No.

That was incorrect.

He was thinking _too_ much.

Every possible scenario was zipping through his mind. Each possibility more horrifying than the last.

Did she clone him?

Did she disguise herself as Loki?

Did she mind whammie him into giving her his sperm?

Did she _rape_ him?

_Shit._

Shit shit shit shit shit-

_"Before you go into a full-blown panic attack Boss there's something else you should know" Friday announced, breaking through rapidly going out of control breathing._

"Which would be what?" Tony huffed out, trying to get his gasping under control.

_"I got some unusual readings from the scans Miss Romanoff-Barnes took of the twins" Friday informed him, sounding confused._

"What kind of unusual readings?" Tony near demanded, having mostly recollected himself by occupying his mind through trying to predict what Friday meant.

_"Dimensional readings...Of a reality that isn't ours" Friday replied, certain of her analysis, but worried of its implications._

"Dimen-Are you kidding me?! She stole kids from another reality?!" Tony exclaimed in disbelief, "There's no way! If Maximoff did hop realities MODI would have picked up on it"

"MODI?" Barnes questioned, confused as to what Stark was talking about.

"MODI. Map of dimensional interferences" Tony clarified, stumped by the sheer possibility of Maximoff's actions, "It's a spell that monitors our reality and all our dimensional planes"

Was Maximoff truly so obsessed and delusional that she actually took the time to locate a reality where they had actually gotten together (shutters), and stole the children they had there together in that reality and brought them back here?

Was Maximoff even that powerful?

"Which means that if Wanda really did travel to an alternate reality and stole the twins, Strange should have known" Natasha hypothesized, her face darkening at the thought.

"Or she fucked with his head too" Bucky pointed out, playing devil's advocate, "Strange has made it known several times he doesn't like Maximoff and that he places his job as a guardian of the multiverse first before anything. He doesn't strike me as the type to just let Maximoff hop through different realities and timelines just to appease her mental instability"

"Regardless I think we can all agree that there's more going on here in Oz then we initially thought" Tony exclaimed, rubbing his hands harshly against his face.

"Then let’s go see the wizard" Bucky darkly exclaimed, cracking his knuckles.

* * *

Pushing through the large wooden doors they were near instantaneously met with an irate Strange, demanding an answer to their presence.

"So you knew Maximoff did something and you didn't feel it was necessary to share with the rest of the class?" Tony furiously demanded, nipping at Strange’s heels as they followed him through the corridors..

"I knew there was an irregularity in our dimension and was in the process of locating it when you lot barged into the Sanctum like a stampede of elephants. Pointing fingers at Maximoff is another issue altogether" Strange dismissed as he led the group to the room where MODI was held.

"Friday confirmed that the energy surrounding the Wicked Witch’s bundles of joy are from another reality" Tony sneered, boring holes in the back of Strange’s head.

"That's impossible" Strange huffed, in disbelief, "I check for dimensional interferences countless times throughout the day. I have alert spells keyed to my person to notify me even at the slightest insignificant shift"

"Sorry to bruise your oversized ego Strange, but you've got three people and an AI with hard proof that you're wrong" Tony snipped back, struggling to keep up with Strange as Levi lifted him up into the air to get him to their destination faster.

Sauntering into the monitoring room after Strange’s dramatic take off, the group was confronted by the sight of MODI, alight in all its golden glory, shimmering and flowing with the energy patterns and waves of the different dimensional planes connected to and interwoven like a tapestry within universe-199999.

"Maximoff used to live here didn't she? Is it possible she could have...altered the program of the spell so that it wouldn't notify you?" Bucky questioned, crossing his arms over his chest as Strange looked over the map.

Strange frowned in thoughtful consideration as he scanned their universe for any abnormalities, "It's not _impossible_. But the spells weaved together to create MODI are intricate and complex. Far beyond her level. She'd be more likely to destroy the spell rather than alter it".

"But someone who helped create the spell would know exactly how to do just that" Natasha knowingly proclaimed.

"Are you actually suggesting that I had something with the twins' existence?" Strange scoffed, narrowing his eyes sharply at Romanoff for the audacity of her slight against him.

"No" Natasha corrected, causing everyone to look at her in confusion, "I think you'll all forgetting that there's someone else _much_ closer to Wanda who had a very critical part in creating MODI"

Strange's eyes widened at the implication, his mouth slackening open in shock.

"...No…" Tony exhaled in horror, his voice little more than a whisper.

"Very well deducted Ms. Romanoff-Barnes"

Startled, everyone wheeled around to see Vision standing in the doorway.

The tension in the room was near palpable.

Natasha and Barnes were ready to strike at a moment's notice, with Natasha ready to toss her magnets and Bucky ready to fight vibranium with vibranium.

Strange was ready to portal Vision away the moment he so much as indicated he would attack them, no longer trusting the Andriod now that they knew he was Maximoff's pawn.

And Tony. Tony had never truly feared Vision until this moment.

He wondered if his technopathy would even be able to combat Vision's Mind Stone enhanced computerized brain.

"You've been aiding Wanda all this time" Natasha accused, cursing herself for not suspecting as much earlier.

"...I have" Vision admitted almost sadly, seeing no point in keeping up the deception any longer.

"Why are you helping her? Why would you feed into her delusions? Why would you let her steal someone else’s kids? Let her manipulate everyone's minds again?" Tony demanded, desperate for answers at the Android's betrayal.

Tony knew Vision was adamant about helping Wanda reacclimate to the world. To recover.

This was the furthest thing from helping...Well...Appropriate helping anyway.

"The twins were not stolen" Vision calmly corrected, not phased by their reactions.

"Yes they were Viz. Friday confirmed for us that the twins came from a branch reality connected to ours. She didn’t give birth to them, but another version of herself did and that Maximoff probably wants her kids back" Tony rebuked, saddened by what his 'grandson' has become...What he had let him become due to his stupid blind insistence that the Android should be able to make his own decisions in life.

He was a _fool._

While he was supposed to be logical, and pragmatic, Vision was wholly naive when it came to emotions and human interactions. Not to mention his own odd obsession with Maximoff he really should have nipped in the bud far earlier.

Vision shook his head.

"While you are all on the right track, I believe it is time for me to come clean as they say" Vision proclaimed, the Mind Stone in his forehead glowing brightly, "It is time for you to know the truth behind the twins’ origins. Then perhaps you will understand"

If possible the tension became a smothering fog, damn near choking all of them as they waited for Vision to begin his explanation, uneasy and mistrusting with how Vision was using the Stone.

But before he could, a flash of gold and green burst into the room.

Not wasting any time, Tony immediately dashed to his haggard husband, catching Loki's arms as he staggered on his feet.

"What did you see?" Tony demanded, not having seen such a look of blatant urgency and terror on his husband's face since Thanos' minions made touchdown of Earth.

Half leaning on his husband, Loki was still half clouded in a daze, his mind still recovering from taking the Norns into his person.

But as fogged over as his mind still was he knew he needed to get to the New York Sanctum.

He _needed_ to warn them.

“Nightmare and Madness”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Madness is somewhere in-between chaos and having a dream" ~ R.M. Drake


	3. Keep your Jiminy Cricket, I prefer the Cheshire Cat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi All!
> 
> This chapter is half explanation half doozy of implications.
> 
> Enjoy! ;)

**(Third POV)**

“That’s impossible!” Strange resolutely exclaimed, a twinge of horror in his voice as he frantically turned his attention away from Vision to manipulate MODI and highlight a specific dimension in their reality.

Seeing that both Stark and Strange were otherwise mentally occupied, Natasha and Bucky made sure to place themselves in a position ready to attack or defend should the Android try anything.

‘Maybe more of Ultron’s programming is in control then we thought...Or maybe we all underestimated Vision and Wanda’s so-called _connection_ ’ Natasha speculated through sharp narrow eyes.

“What’s not possible?!” Tony demanded over his shoulder at Strange as he held up his near boneless husband, “Speak English!”

If the situation weren’t so precarious Bucky and Natasha would snort at the irony of the super-genius’ words.

“If Nightmare or Madness found a way into our dimension MODI-”

“Is compromised and no longer functioning the way it should” Bucky pointedly reminded the Sorcerer.

Strange was scarily silent for a moment, staring at MODI’s golden visage in betrayal before turning his gaze back to Vision.

“They did find a way in...And you were training her” Loki gasped out, grasping on the threads of his consciousness, pleading for his strength to return faster.

Rage burned in Strange’s eyes.

Both at Maximoff...And at himself.

“How is that possible?” Natasha demanded.

For all her efforts to gather information on just how Strange, Wanda, and Loki’s power’s worked she didn’t quite fully understand how they could do what they do.

“Magic is harnessing energy from dimensions and using it to shape reality. Myself and the other sorcerers of Kamar-Taj use Eldritch magic, which harnesses energy from our universe’s dimension. Maximoff uses what we call Chaos magic, which harnesses energy from the more...demonic dimensions of our universe” Strange explained through grit teeth, the sneer never leaving his face.

“Are you kidding me! Why in the hell would you choose to train her in that?!” Tony demanded in appalled disbelief, not able to comprehend the complete lack of logic and common sense in Strange’s decision.

Strange gave him a sharp glare, “I didn’t _choose_ to teach her that kind of magic. It was the only type of magic she had an affinity for after removing the taint of the Mind Stone”.

“And what? You didn’t have the mental foresight or common sense to say, sorry can’t help you. Adios. Sayonara. Don’t let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya?!” Tony shouted, flailing an arm out at the sorcerer, giving him a look that clearly asked ‘are-you-insane’?

Strange ground his teeth in fury.

He was able to be redeemed.

Loki was able to be redeemed.

He had taken a (very) reluctant chance in training her based on that. Hoping to instill her with better teachings and morals as she recovered mentally through Doc Samson’s help.

And it bit him in the ass.

_Fabulous._

Strange’s eyes drifted very briefly to the doorway.

The subtle twitch of Vision’s fingers didn’t escape his notice (or Natasha and Bucky’s for that matter either).

Maximoff needed to be dealt with _permanently._

But if he attempted to leave the room they would have a fight on their hands...And as loathe as he was to admit it, what they needed right now was information.

“For all your suspicions against myself, you allowed the Witch to learn a form of magic that allowed her to alter our very reality and create her own to suit her delusions” Loki accused, his voice a tad stronger as he lifted his head to glare at Strange.

Natasha and Bucky flinched in surprise, barely resisting the urge to swivel their heads to the Asgardian Prince like Strange and Tony.

“She what?!” Tony demanded, not sure if he had heard that correctly or not, “Maximoff isn’t that powerful..Is she?”

“No she’s not” Strange firmly denied.

“Not without help” Loki proclaimed, unflinchingly rebuking Strange's unspoken challenge.

“I thought the Mind Stone only dealt with the mind. Thoughts, cognition, memories, dreams. If Maximoff wanted to create her own reality wouldn’t she need the _Reality Stone_?” Bucky inquired, trying to follow Loki’s line of reasoning.

“I didn’t say it was the Android” Loki corrected, standing on his own wobbling legs of his own volition for the first time since entering the room, “Though he is her perfect little accomplice”

Everyone’s attention returned to the ever silent Android, standing unconcerned before them, his expression neutral as he observed their entire exchange.

"I believe you promised us an explanation" Strange demanded, his tone furious and expectant.

"You would be correct Doctor" Vision replied, unphased by the tension or threats, "And by its end you will understand"

'It's what happens after we understand that's the bigger question' Bucky thought mistrustfully.

"First you need to understand that Wanda's actions were not entirely her own" Vision began, the Mind Stone glowing in all its ancient glory, "But rather than tell you I will show you"

A bright yellow flash warped their vision, a sharp disorienting yank jolted all of them as their minds were pulled into memories...into a visionscape that wasn't theirs.

"Where are we?!" Tony demanded once he had regained his mental footing, not liking the feeling of being mentally violated yet again (And from Barnes' murderous expression neither did he).

Strange attempted to conjure his magic, only for nothing to happen.

"We're in the Mind Stone" Loki speculated, narrowing his eyes at the Android.

Vision nodded, "That would be correct. We are watching the past confluence of events that brought us to the current day play out as they occurred in Wanda's mind and perception".

"The Mind Stone can do that?!" Tony choked, a shudder going down his spine at the thought of Vision (or anybody who possessed the Stone) being able to use it to remotely invade minds and access past events through anyone's memories like a movie reel.

“Observe” Vision exclaimed, ignoring Tony’s question for the moment (he was confident the genius was intelligent enough to come up with the correct hypothesis anyway), “This was the moment it all began”

The mindscape tilt-a-whirled as myriads of colors swirled around them in a fantastical dizzying sensation.

“Trippy” Tony muttered in immense discontent, barely managing to right his husband at the last second.

Loki growled at his lack of steadiness, frustrated at the Android’s games.

The scene solidified, allowing the group to make out forms, structures...and people.

Strange’s eyes widened.

This was-

_"Why couldn’t you have just left me?” Wanda pleaded brokenly, desperate for an answer as she curled around herself on the floor, “I was finally happy and loved”_

The group was hit by a crippling feeling of grief and despair.

So much so that it actually took them all a few moments to register that the emotions were not their own.

_“You are loved Wanda” Vision assured her, kneeling down to her level, his eyes gentle and expressive._

_“No I’m not” Wanda sniffled, fed up with all the lies, “My parents are dead. Pietro’s dead. Steve and the rest are only just starting to talk to me again, and Tony is married and having a child with someone else”_

The question of ‘why’? ‘Why why why why can’t I be allowed to be happy’, painfully reverberated through everyone’s skulls.

_“Things might seem horrible now, but I promise you that you can still find ways to be happy...And if you’ll let me...I’d like to show you that you are loved” Vision confidently exclaimed, holding his hand out to her._

_The lack of hesitation in his voice caused Wanda to pause and consider him for a moment._

_It could just be more lies…_

_But really...She had nothing left to lose at this point._

_“Fine” Wanda said weakly, slowly taking his outstretched hand, allowing him to ever so gingerly maneuver her back onto her feet._

_But even as Vision gave her his best attempt at a reassuring smile, and what he thought was a comforting squeeze to her hands, Wanda couldn’t help but think back to the intimacies she and Tony had shared._

_Their daughter._

_Her plans to conceive again with him that night._

_A strong ‘No’ slammed into their heads as Wanda scolded herself and tried to force herself to forget about her illusory world_

_It's not real_

_It's not real_

_It's not real_

_It's not real_

_**“It can be” an enticing voice echoed.** _

The group shuddered, the voice unfamiliar and eerie...But the words flowed over them like soothing honey, or the smell of particularly delicious food to a starving man...Temptation.

Suddenly the group was jolted yet again, their forms forcefully yanked back into the Mind Stone’s inner scape once again.

“Who was that?!” Natasha demanded, narrowing her eyes at Vision.

“Nightmare” Strange answered for him, his expression tight and furious, his hands trembling from more than just their nerve damage as he attempted to make fists.

“Why do you and Loki keep repeating that as if it’s a person?” Bucky demanded confused.

“A person is the furthest thing he is” Loki corrected tightly, grimly, “Nightmare is a powerful dimensional entity that controls the Dream Dimension. A...demons of sorts. He draws his power from the psychic energies of the subconscious minds of dreaming beings”

“Are you telling me that we have a demon in our heads every time we go to sleep?!” Tony demanded, horrified.

“...Yes”

“That’s something you mention to your husband who’s paranoid about having his mind invaded!” Tony shouted, feeling slightly betrayed as he looked upon his husband’s sheepish face with disbelief.

“The Dream dimension is tightly interwoven with the structure of ours. Nightmare is dependant on our ability to dream. Without it he would cease to exist...Conversely, without him and the ability to dream we would go insane” Strange further extrapolated, adding the last part before anyone could suggest cutting off the Dream dimension’s access to their dimension.

“Maximoff _is_ going insane!” Tony viciously corrected, giving Strange a heated gaze.

“That is correct” Vision cut in, “Allow me to show you the result of Nightmare’s...influences”

The world tilted again, spinning them around into yet another memory.

An image of Wanda lying asleep in her cot at Kamar-Taj surrounded them.

Wanda’s face was contorted in pain, her fists balled tightly within the sheets as her body twisted in response to her dreams...No…

The deep sadness, desperation, and anger they felt confirmed for them that this was not a dream...But a nightmare…

Or rather, _Nightmare._

Flashes of images bombarded their skulls, as if someone had jammed a film reel into their minds.

_**“You can have your happy ending”** _

_Pietro alive and teasing Clint. Tony kissing her. Crowds cheering her name. Cheering for the Scarlet Witch. The joyous cries of ‘mazel tov’ at the long awaited Maximoff-Stark wedding. Tony making love to her. Holding her daughter. She was a hero. A friend. A wife. A mother._

_Suddenly the images burned away as if someone had lit a match underneath them._

The gentle caress of the images was replaced by sharp excruciating pain, as if someone was jamming a white-hot poker into their minds.

_"You are incredibly naive"_

_“You are nothing less than delusional if you believe he will ever love you"_

_“I want to introduce to you all the most important person in my husband and I’s life. Morgan Frigga Lokisdottir-Stark”_

_**“You can change this”** _

_A villain. Alone. Loved only by an inorganic being._

_**“You can make your dreams a reality”** _

_A hero. A friend. A wife. A mother._

_**“You can make it what it should be”** _

The yet again dance of an unexpected jerk and a yank spun them around as the mindscape vanished and they were back in their own bodies at the New York Sanctum.

“Okay...First I just need to say that I didn’t need that visual of me doing the horizontal tango with Maximoff” Tony huffed, viciously rubbing at his eyes as if he could rub away the scarring visual.

“ _You_ didn’t need that visual?” Bucky scowled, a disgusted sneer on his face.

“Admit it. You liked that view of my ass” Tony sarcastically jested, trying to distract from the current uncomfortableness.

The moment Bucky opened his mouth to give his own teasingly sarcastic retort Loki cut him off.

“You answer that even in jest I will see to it that you regret it” Loki threatened, his tone as cold and sharp as ice daggers.

“So Nightmare is controlling Wanda?” Natasha inquired, both questioning and skeptical as she redirected the discussion to a more productive topic.

“Maximoff is likely drawing energy from the Dream Dimension in order to use her Chaos magic. The more she trained and the stronger she got likely allowed Nightmare a better doorway into her mind, not only giving him better influence over Maximoff’s dreams, but in theory eventually giving him the ability to cause her hallucinations of his own choosing, and manipulate her by enticing her with own desires...But complete mind control no...More like...he drove her to the edge” Strange speculated, not liking the confluence of events he had failed to notice within his own walls.

“How didn’t you notice that?” Tony demanded, confused how something as serious as this could have fallen through the cracks like that.

“Because he did it all through her dreams. _His_ territory. As such MODI failed to detect the issue” Loki answered for him, hands balled into fists at his and Strange’s shameful oversight.

“Precisely” Vision agreed, his tone bland and neutral, “Nightmare came to Wanda each time she slept. Every time she dreamed. And once her powers were strong enough, he haunted her throughout her day. Giving her promises. Enticing her”

“Until she finally broke down and gave in to his persistent temptations” Loki finished, the sheer amount of hatred and loathing in his tone near palpable.

Vision nodded in confirmation, his expression robotic.

It didn’t escape Tony’s notice that the Android had been becoming more and more emotionless as the conversation (if you could even call whatever this was a conversation) dragged on.

“And how does all this relate back to the twins?” Tony inquired, looking at Loki expectantly, done with waiting for an explanation from Vision.

“Nightmare used Maximoff as a focal point. Made her the medium between our dimension and the Dream dimension. Because of that Maximoff was able to use her magic to connect the two dimensions together, combining them and altering our reality to the point she created her own” Loki explained, his expression grave.

All his dreams....All his visions...All those “memories”...They had been “real”.

It made Loki’s stomach twist into knots. Sickening him to the point even his nausea was like lead.

Tony paled, his face turning a sickly white and green.

“So the kids are leftovers from that other reality she created?” Bucky inquired, his mind swirling from just how messed up and convoluted all this was.

“Yes” Vision confirmed, his answer simple and to the point.

“I think the better question is why none of us remember this happening...And what happened to that reality” Natasha observed, glaring down the expressionless android with the promise of murder if her theory was right.

Silence.

No one spoke at the horrifying implications of Natasha’s near accusation as they gazed upon Vision with horrified terror.

“The Mind Stone allowed me to recognize what Wanda had done. I contacted the version of Strange in that universe and the two of us corrected what Wanda had created. Effectively destroying that reality and returning ours” Vision casually explained.

‘That still doesn’t answer Natasha’s first question’ Bucky noted sharply, reading his muscles to strike out the moment was right.

The Mind Stone controlled the mind…

_“I didn’t say it was the Android” Loki corrected, standing on his own wobbling legs of his own volition for the first time since entering the room, “Though he is her perfect little accomplice”_

Bucky’s eyes darkened.

He was going to turn the Android into scrap metal and return it to Shuri melted down and in a jar.

“...Why didn’t you get Loki to help you?” Tony inquired uneasily, a feeling of dread building in the pit of his stomach.

“Mr. Laufeyson was not available for me to enlist his help” Vision simply replied.

“ _Why_?” Tony persisted, not liking the vagueness of the answer.

He _needed_ to know what that psychotic bitch had done to his husband in her “perfect” alternate world.

“Because I was dead” Loki proclaimed, his tone sure and sharp, not able to look his husband in the eyes.

Tony felt as if the world had dropped out from under him.

Maximoff...Maximoff had…

She had _killed_ his husband.

She had taken away the love of his life.

The man who saw the worst parts of himself and didn’t run screaming...Or walk away from all the ‘work’.

The man who didn’t judge him. Who loved him wholly. Broken bits and all.

“Anthony”

She’d taken Loki from him.

She’d taken his family from him.

“Anthony”

She’d taken his _world_ from him.

“I am still here Anthony” Loki exclaimed, his voice cutting into Tony’s spiralling thoughts, his tone confident and sure, “And I am not going anywhere”

“How can you be so sure? She already succeeded once before and with everything that’s been going on-”

Loki silenced his panicking husband with a firm demanding kiss, capturing Tony’s mouth and molding it to his own, pouring every ounce of confidence and assurance he had into his movements as he wrapped his arms around Tony’s waist in order to keep _him_ upright this time.

Eventually Tony relaxed enough as he leaned into the kiss that his shoulders were no longer tense and his hands no longer shaking.

Loki pulled away, eyes fiery and determined, “Because _no one_ fools the God of Mischief and Chaos twice with the same trick”

He lived in the darkness once...And no one was going to take him from his family...The reason for his happiness...His light and the very reason for his very existence again.

Tony’s chest tightened in relief at Loki’s silent declaration of love and protection. His confidence steadily increasing every moment that passed he continued to gaze into his husband’s eyes.

They could do this.

Together they could save everyone. Just like they did before.

“Sorry to cut into your Hallmark movie moment you two Lovebirds, but we all have a ‘nightmare’ to wake Wanda up from” Natasha cut in, both semi-relieved that Tony was no longer about to have a panic attack, and semi-annoyed that the princes had spaced out in the middle of an unsafe situation.

“Correction Ms. Romanoff-Barnes. It is not Nightmare that is the enemy now” Vision robotically corrected, his expression eerily neutral and unfeeling.

“Wha-”

“It is Madness” Loki sneered, glaring the Android down.

* * *

_Tony needed help._

_He was logical. A genius._

_He was becoming unhinged._

_He needed them._

_Needed her._

_Loki was the unstable one._

_Not her._

Wanda exhaled a breath out her nose and opened her eyes, leaving the minds of her fellow Avengers.

It was almost too easy now to weave her magic within their minds. Taking the doubts and thoughts that were already there, no matter how deep or buried, and bringing them to the surface, making them think their conclusions were wholly their own.

**Everyone needs help to see the truth.**

‘That’s right’ Wanda thought, ‘The truth. Reality’

**Truth is a lie and a lie the truth.**

The truth was what we made it. And everyone’s truth was different.

**What truth?**

Everyone’s _reality_ was different.

And that was the problem.

But she had already once tried to change everyone’s “reality” to match hers and _failed_.

He had lied to her.

**Who lied?**

Nightmare.

**Did he?**

‘Yes’ Wanda thought furiously, her eyes glowing blood red as she glared at the ceiling as if it had offended her.

Nightmare had enraptured her with false promises and unlasting dreams.

**Me thinks it was you who was the liar.**

“……”

‘...Liar’ Wanda mentally whispered, her anger turning into a downcast shame.

**Who was a liar?**

She was...

She had lied to herself...Let herself believe that Nightmare could give her that forever world.

**You can’t believe everything you hear.**

No she couldn’t.

**Everything is a lie after all. That’s the truth.**

Truth.

Wanda felt the urge to scoff.

Clenching her fists, Wanda sat up from her bed at the apartment she and Vision shared.

She quietly shuffled her way over to the window at the sickeningly cheerful sunny day, careful not to make any noise and wake up the twins who had decided to curl themselves within her covers for their afternoon nap-time.

Truth and reality...They were both merely constructs of the mind.

Her sons.

Her beautiful children born of her and Tony.

 _They_ were her truth. Her reality.

She had already lost Talia.

Tony remained her unattainable Love.

But she had the twins, so she had been content.

And though it broke her heart she kept her beautiful children from their Father lest she risk Tony finding out the truth.

Understandably Avengers day had terrified her...At first.

Sneaking a glance back at her sons, Wanda remembered the moment her plans had changed.

From hiding her truths and fragile reality to _embracing_ it.

The moment Tony had held their children close to his breast and protected them from his alien ilk with that bastard-born prince.

Seeing Tommy and Billy clinging to Tony and being held close to him like they should have been all along cemented her resolve.

She hadn’t before, but now she truly understood.

Reality was a creation within the mind. And everyone’s reality was different.

She had failed with Nightmare because she had changed everyone’s reality to match her’s.

 _That_ was where she went wrong.

Instead of changing _everyone’s_ reality she just needed to change _Tony’s_ reality.

But her soulmate was nothing if resilient and strong-willed.

If their reality’s were going to match then Tony’s mind needed to be broken...Shattered in so many pieces that when she carefully and lovingly rebuilt his mind and sanity he would finally understand what she had realized long ago.

And if she had to irreparably shatter everyone else’s “reality” around her to do it she _would_.

No one was going to take her children from her again.

Her family.

**No one.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I'm not crazy. My reality is just different than yours" ~ Cheshire cat


	4. Down The Rabbit Hole

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi All,
> 
> Fair warning, this is a dark chapter.
> 
> Enjoy!

**(Third POV)**

“Madness” Tony deadpanned, fighting the urge to pinch his nose in frustration, “Let me guess, another demon-like being from another dimension parallel to ours that feeds off of our mental health, or rather lack thereof?”

Loki cringed at the accurate hypothesis, but before he could elaborate on their current enemy Vision snapped to attention, looking much like a robot who had been given a command.

“Sensing a disturbance in the Force?” Tony inquired carefully, muscles tense at the Android’s sudden far-away look.

“It has begun” Vision announced, his tone void of emotion.

The group tensed, dread crawling up their spines.

“What has begun?” Bucky demanded, shifting his stance so that he was positioned to attack or defend (or to grab the Android if he tried to escape).

Suddenly, MODI’s golden glow transformed into a siren red, the map pulsating in alarm.

“Son of a bitch!” Strange furiously muttered, his own fiery sparks glowing from his palms as he manipulated the program.

“Talk to us Strange, what’s going on?” Tony near demanded, eyes glowing blue as he kept his gaze squared on Vision, ready to call out his nano-suit.

“Wanda” Natasha deduced, her hands subtly moving closer to her magnet traps while Vision was distracted.

“The Realm of Madness is starting to overlap with the Earthly plane” Strange exclaimed, panic laced within his tone as he frantically tried to pinpoint the where the focal point of the tear in the dimensions was located.

“We need to find the Witch and stop her before she permanently merges our dimension with the Realm of Madness as she had with the entirety of the Dream Dimension, lest we wish to live within our own horrors for the remainder of our days” Loki proclaimed, gathering the magic within and around him, relishing in his renewed energy...And the anticipation of finally ending Maximoff’s miserable excuse of an existence.

“You will do no such thing” Vision sharply proclaimed, the first bit of emotion the android had displayed since the start of their conversation, his attention shifting to pointedly gaze at Loki.

Tony immediately stepped in front of his husband, mentally commanding his armour to wrap around him.

“I had hoped that you would understand that Wanda is merely a victim who deserves the happiness she is owed and desired, but it appears attempting to appeal to your ‘humanity’ so to speak was a fruitless endeavor” Vision exclaimed, his voice sounding off...Almost as if it were not his own.

“Being a victim doesn’t mean the world owes you anything” Natasha countered sagely, having already understood that fact long ago.

She was stolen from a young age to be a part of Russia’s Black Widow program. Brainwashed, and gaslighted to be a killer. She _was_ a killer. But just because she was a victim of the Red Room didn’t mean the world was to bow down to her and accommodate her pain, or ignore the red in her ledger. Life wasn’t fair. But you could take control of your own fate and find ways to not let your past define you.

Unfortunately Wanda was taking that far too literally.

“Well I do as I wish...And I will make sure that Wanda gets whatever it is that she wants” Vision announced, his voice distorted as he began to float up into the air, the Mind Stone glowing a ominous bright yellow.

Immediately Natasha snapped out her wrists, tossing her magnetic pulsers onto the ground next to Vision, the electromagnetic pulses wrapping around the Android like a net.

Bucky rushed at Vision, aiming to punch him through the floor skull first with his vibranium arm, but before he could, a pulse from the Mind Stone knocked away the electromagnetic net as if it were a pesky fly, Vision catching Bucky’s punch with his hand, his form shaking slightly in the air from the kinetic force of the punch shifting him off balance before he twisted Bucky’s arm around and slammed his arm down on the super-soldier’s back, slamming Bucky harshly into the floor.

Loki and Strange lashed out with their magic to try and tie Vision down, only for the Android to density shift through the floor and disappear.

“Dammit! We need to get to Maximoff before he does!” Tony exclaimed, powering down his canons, removing the helmet from his face.

“We need a plan” Loki stated, a furious scowl on his face.

“We don’t have time for anything in-depth. Does anyone know where Maximoff is currently staying?” Strange urgently inquired, Levi fluttering in anxiety behind him.

“I do” Natasha announced, her eyes burning with resolve.

* * *

Vision rocketed through the skies at well over six hundred miles per hour in a race to get to Wanda before Strange located her signature and portaled to her first, paying no heed to the chaos and destruction below him.

Without warning a portal of fiery gold and orange sparks appeared above the Android.

Unable to veer away in time, Vision was struck by piston-like hammers, courtesy of Tony’s latest Iron Man armour, the impact sending him barreling into the concrete below and upturning the road.

Lifting himself up out of the tangle of damaged sewage pipes, a small portal opened up, Natasha striking Vision with an amped up Widow’s Bite before the portal closed, and another immediately opening to allow Bucky to punch Vision across the cheek with his vibranium arm before disappearing through another portal.

Knocked out of the hole in the road and onto the pavement, Vision found himself tied down by gold and green ropes.

“Strange, do it now!” Tony called out, flying down near the duo.

But before Strange could send the unstable Android into the Mirror Dimension a meat delivery truck came barreling straight for them, the driver’s eyes manic and unhinged as he grinned gleefully at his three targets.

Having no choice but to release their spells to dodge, Strange and Loki moved away from the truck at the last second, causing Vision to get a face full of grill.

Having achieved his goal the driver exited the vehicle jumping and whooping for joy.

“I got it! I got it! A new rare delicacy to sell!” the man exclaimed, his eyes wide and disturbed as he wrung his hands and licked his chops.

Swallowing his thickening saliva, Tony couldn’t help but note the blood spatters on the man’s clothes...And from the scene in front of him, Tony didn’t think the blood came from cutting up cows at the butcher’s shop.

Subtly the three of them truly took note of their surroundings…

Storefronts were destroyed. Windows smashed, merchandise looted. Cars parked through doorways.

Citizens were chucking Molotov cocktails at apartments, drinking fountain water through curly straws, and making snow angels in the piles of trash from upturned dumpsters…

As the deranged butcher made his way to the front of his truck to collect his latest product, the vehicle was tossed effortlessly aside by an uninjured Vision.

“Leave. Or you will be the one served on the menu” Vision expressionlessly threatened.

“Will I taste good?” the butcher inquired wondrously.

Loki merely knocked the insane man out and slashed at the Android with his Urdu knives, dancing with one another in a flurry of blocks and jabs, with Vision able to knock one of the Asgardian’s blades to the ground and Loki slicing a decent cut into the metal of Vision’s forehead where the Stone laid via manipulating his knife with telekinesis when his blow had been blocked.

Vision’s eyes went murderous as he struck Loki with his energy blast, sending him flying through the broken window of one of the looted stores and crashing into the stone of the back wall.

“Trying to exorcise my influence?” Vision sneered, an alien voice coming from his mouth, “Well I refuse to allow it!”

Every fiber of Tony’s being screamed at him to go check on his husband, but the logical, rational part of him ignited his boots and launched himself at Vision.

‘Exorcise?’ Tony contemplated as he alternated between molding his arms into humongous blades to slice Vision in half, and cannons to deflect the Android’s energy beams, ‘Does that mean Vision is being controlled too? Or…’

Floating through the air, Strange used his magic to create chains that wrapped themselves around Vision in an unbreakable vice-like grip, even with his vibranium level strength.

Suddenly, the Mind Stone glowed in furious vengeance, the resulting blast knocking off Tony and Strange’s focus, dissipating the spell and sending the both of them crashing into the dirt.

Groaning, Strange was lifting back onto his feet by a swaying Levi, who was still as dizzy as himself.

“Clothing are the enemy! The foot-in-the-door of social control! Be free! Don’t let the government control you any longer!” a manic disheveled woman preached, appearing out of nowhere and clawing at Levi and Strange’s robes, her hair knotted and frizzy and naked as the day she was born.

Strange choked in surprise, his face going red in embarrassment when his eyes finally focused and he noticed the woman’s lack of attires.

Strange tried to pull away, however he stumbled on his feet from the continued vertigo, causing the woman to pull at him closer to her to keep him upright.

In retaliation, Levi covered Strange’s eyes with one corner of his material and viciously smacked the woman’s arm off his charge with the other, the collar of the cloak indenting down in an imitation of glaring eyes.

“Ahhhhhhhh! It’s not the government! The clothes are alive! They’re controlling our minds! Burn them! Burn them all!” the woman screeched, running away from Strange in terror.

Disoriented Tony fumbled on his knees to right himself, jolting back when he noticed that Vision had suddenly appeared in front of him, causing the world to tilt-a-whirl once again, the resulting dizziness causing him to fall flat on his back.

Tony's breathing picked up the moment he felt Vision looming over him, instinctively crossing his arms protectively over his face in his PTSD laced panic.

Vision did nothing as he stared at the glow of the arc reactor in the center of Tony's armour.

"Your bastardized version of my Sister always did irk me" Vision stated off-handedly.

Having not been attacked Tony forced himself to lower his arms to look at Vision...Or more specifically the Mind Stone on his forehead.

"You're not Vision are you?" Tony realized, swallowing in forced calm, though his heart was anything but.

"But I am" Vision plainly stated.

"Whose _vision_?" Tony clarified sharply.

"My own...Her's" Vision cryptically replied.

"Maximoff's" Tony filled in for him, "The two of you always said that you felt connected...But it's not because the Stone gave you power or life. It's because you _are_ the Stone"

"The merging of Jarvis and Ultron would have sufficed, though the resulting Being likely would not have been on your side initially" Vision detailed, "It was your inclusion of myself as a variable that skewed the results in your favor"

" _Why_?" Tony demanded, confused as to the Stone's goal.

"When Hydra tried to use me for their own gain I found myself...interested in their ideals, but not the humans themselves. They were too...small minded. Boring...But then _they_ came. The Twins" Vision recounted, a spark of interest flashing in his tone, "Their passion. Their hatred. Their _vision_. Wanda's mind in particular, the energy, the flavor of it attracted me...And I was pleased when she had survived"

Tony wasn't sure he liked where this was going.

"So when she planted that seed, hoping to cause you to self-destruct, to have the weapons engineer build a weapon that would cause his end, I decided to have a little fun and aid her in her endeavors" Vision exclaimed, amusement weaved within his voice.

"And people say my definition of a party is screwy" Tony muttered sarcastically.

"Minds who've experienced chaos tend to be more amusing than those who have not experienced any hardship at all" Vision casually shrugged, his tone dismissive.

"So you've got a thing for women with some serious baggage. Noted. Though I'm curious why you destroyed her alternate universe if you relish in her so called 'vision' so much" Tony questioned curiously, sitting himself up on his elbows.

"I prefer mental stability unless I am the one causing otherwise. I don't appreciate Nightmare and Madness using her for their own gain" Vision corrected, an annoyed crinkled appearing on his face.

"Yet you don't seem to be trying to stop them either" Tony pointed out.

"Because of the nature of the magic she wields I cannot block them entirely" Vision explained, sounding mildly annoyed.

"...But you can keep her stable... That's what you've been doing haven't you?...And that's why you let her keep the twins isn't it? Because it kept her mentally stable" Tony realized with a start, seeing Vision's 'relationship' within Maximoff in a whole new light.

"Indeed" Vision confirmed.

"If you're trying to keep her stable then why didn't you come to us instead of erasing our memories? Because that's what you did right? Erase our memories of the alternate universe in order to protect her?" Tony demanded, now really confused as to what the Stone hoped to achieve.

"Because I still wish to see her vision fulfilled" Vision cryptically answered.

"What vision?!" Tony shouted in exasperation and annoyance at the lack of straight answers, now sitting up completely.

"While there are no such things as soulmates, there is a certain level of compatibility through energies, both mental and physical. Fate lines. Most cannot sense these energies, however Wanda can" Vision explained, seeing the man's frustration and deciding to throw him a bone.

Fear and dread shuttered its way up Tony's spine, the blood vanishing from his face.

"She senses your intertwined paths in this timeline and the potential compatibility of your energies, though there is room for interpretation as to the nature of the compatibility. She has decided the future she wants for herself, and how she wants the two of you to change the world for the better. And it would be entertaining to see that reality play out" Vision concluded, his tone casual and blase.

"...I think I liked you better when you didn't talk" Tony commented sardonically, unable to contain the trembles vibrating through his body at the thought of an Infinity Stone as Maximoff's Corner Man.

"I will see to it that Wanda achieves her vision. But first Madness needs to be locked back away" Vision stated, resolution in his tone.

"After you"

Without warning, Vision was stabbed through the chest by Loki's daggers, the sorcerer using his strength to yank his blades upwards, causing the Android's circuitry and connection to the Mind Stone to become damaged and prevent him from phasing.

Vision screamed out in pain, startled by the sudden unexpected attack.

Before Vision could regather himself, Strange opened the Eye of Agamotto, using the Time Stone to temporarily halt time around Vision, freezing the Android in place.

Immediately Tony shot forward, reaching out his vibranium laced armour to wrench the Mind Stone from Vision's head and mentally ordering extra nano-tech to wrap around it and encase the Stone in a box for safe keeping.

Vision's empty shell collapsed to the concrete with an echoing thud.

Tony flinched at the sound, guilt eating away at his stomach as he stared at the corpse.

He just killed what was left of Jarvis...His son…

"He was no longer Jarvis...Nor am I sure he was ever really Vision" Loki tried to console, seeing the agony and guilt on his husband's face as he gazed upon the unmoving Android.

Tony gave Loki a slow nod, taking a hold of his husband's hand, squeezing it for the comfort and reassurance that only Loki could give him.

"Impressive impromptu interrogation" Strange complimented as he closed the Eye once more.

"Ask anyone. I love to hear myself talk. Though you guys definitely took your sweet time. You didn't stop and get free coffee without me did you? Broken windows mean the cafe is open right?" Tony babbled slightly, deflecting from the reminder that Vision was now completely dead by his hand.

"Sorry we didn't meet your deadline. The two of us crafting a spell that fools the Mind Stone where our brainwaves are isn't exactly a walk in the park" Strange scoffed, rolling his eyes at the engineer's antics.

Opening up a portal beneath the Android's corpse, the body vanished to rest at the New York Sanctum for the time being.

Sensing an incoming call, Tony answered.

"Tell me you have a birthday present waiting for me" Tony stated, his voice just shy of pleading.

"Unfortunately it's currently been misplaced" Natasha relayed, sounding unhappy, "We're at what's left of the apartment now. No Wanda. No twins"

"Dammit" Tony cursed.

He'd hoped that with them distracting Vision, Nat and Barnes would be able to nab Wanda (Or kill her. Either worked for him).

Of course things were never so easy.

"According to MODI the epicenter of the magic is at the Compound" Strange relayed, pulling up a mini-version of the dimensional map.

"Can we even trust that?" Tony inquired skeptically.

All they knew was that M. Stone (a.k.a Vision) tampered with the map, leaving its reliability _majorly_ in question.

"The Earth is a giant spider's nest! We're all living on spider eggs! That's why we can't kill them all! And when they all hatch we're going to be eaten alive by the Queen's babies!" a random guy screeched, attempting to grab onto Loki, but was quickly and efficiently sidestepped.

"There is a home appliance store two blocks down the road. There you will find all that you need to prepare for the insect invasion" Loki ordered his tone reminiscent of an army officer.

The man gave Loki a grateful salute and immediately sprinted off to complete his mission of saving the world.

Loki turned and gave Strange a shit-eating grin, " _That_ is how you handle the mentally unhinged".

Strange narrowed his eyes at the Trickster, his face flushing slightly in frustrated embarrassment, "He wasn't in his birthday suit clinging onto you".

"If I wasn't happily married it would've been a pleasant birthday gift indeed" Loki jested, intentionally ribbing Strange for the sake of getting on his nerves.

He was owed a bit of momentary levity after everything they've had to deal with so far.

"As much as I'm one to appreciate witty banter we need to focus on finding Maximoff" Tony reminded them.

"No need" Natasha proclaimed over the speaker, "I'm pretty confident Strange is right"

"Are you certain?" Strange inquired seriously.

"Considering we're lookin at the Compound now, and it looks like somethin out of Alice and Wonderland, I'm gonna go ahead and say signs point to yes" Bucky stated dryly, though the uneasiness was clear in his voice.

"Lewis Carroll or Disney?" Tony couldn’t help but ask.

"Carroll, but definitely more twisted" Bucky replied.

"Well this should be fun" Tony muttered, not liking that they were going to be walking into a mental funhouse, "Will the arc reactors protect us?"

The reactors could block Maximoff, and direct blasts from the Mind Stone...But that still hadn't stopped Maximoff from messing with all their heads as of late.

"As the focal point of the Realm of Madness she is able to bypass the reactors since, like Nightmare, Madness connects to us all via our degree of sanity and mental stability. Though they still should give us a measure of protection and prevent us from feeling the full effects of the magic" Loki contemplatively detailed, sounding just as uneasy and not fully certain.

"Well...I hear exposure therapy is all the rage these days" Tony stated sarcastically, fighting his panic at not having his security blanket to protect him.

Well...they always had another option...Though it was a far more uncertain variable to even attempt at this moment in time.

"I don't think this is what Samson had in mind...But none of us really have a choice now do we?" Strange reluctantly agreed.

"Then what are we waiting for? Time to wake up Alice"

* * *

Loki’s theory held up.

While the arc reactors had shielded them from the brunt of the mind-bending insanity that was weaving its way through the minds of all living creatures, they still felt its effects on their psyche.

Namely their fears, insecurities, and anxieties (cough PTSD cough).

And the closer they got to the Compound the more those emotions were dialed up.

By the time the Compound was within their sights the three men were nearly suffocating in flashbacks.

Tony was still gasping for air from having to force himself through one of Strange’s portals.

_The Chitauri. The empty vacuum of space. Falling. Dying. Another invasion. And failing to be good enough._

It didn’t matter that Thanos had been defeated.

It didn’t matter that he’d created Edith.

In the face of Madness, Tony supposed all the damn work he put in with Doc Samson, and working with Strange to desensitize himself meant nothing.

But with Strange getting jumpier and jumpier around the cars passing by underneath them, flying to the Compound seemed just as cruel.

The final straw had been when Strange’s body had locked up hearing an SUV crash into a streetlight.

One of them had to suck it up...And unfortunately it made the most sense to portal.

Yay him.

And so here they were.

And geez Barnes wasn’t kidding when he said it was like a more twisted version of Alice in Wonderland.

The surrounding trees were shadowed and dead, the forest covered in an ominous fog.

And Tony swore that squirrel let out a drunken human laugh...And that owl’s head wasn’t connected to its body...

They couldn’t even walk on the lawn. It was covered in literal grass- _blades_. The formerly innocuous green plants were now pointed spikes sharper than Natasha's knives.

They realized _that_ fairly quickly from the sight of the skewered birds who had chosen the wrong place to land.

Tony didn’t think the ‘Keep of the Grass’ sign was very funny.

The three of them opted to fly their way over to the main building, not wanting to risk walking along the walkway with the sign warning them, ‘Step on a crack, break your Mother’s back’.

Especially when the entire walkway was littered with cracks.

The less they played along with Madness and Wanda’s games the better.

The Compound however was a different animal in and of itself.

Taking a look-see in, the office building was overrun with living furniture equipped with old-time asylum-like restraints, man-eating self-regenerating paperwork (Tony could relate to that fear), it’s own Tower of Terror, and digital figures popping out of computer screens.

But the Hanger...

The name suddenly became very literal.

The inside looked like a psychotic serial killer’s wet dream.

Tony didn’t want to think too hard about why there were no screaming employees in that building like there were in the other ones...Or about the dark puddles, splatters, and mutilated hanging pieces of corpses hanging from the ceiling from nooses and hooks...Or the crusty machines and tools...

The main building though...Looked...normal.

From the outside anyway.

The only difference being the crappy broken and flickering LED sign above the front entryway that read, ‘Welcome Home’.

"That's not sarcastic or a passive aggressive challenge at all" Tony deadpanned with a scoff.

"If we wish to dispose of the Witch we cannot stay out here forever" Loki pointed out, sounding tense and on edge.

"You think Nat and Barnes are inside?" Tony inquired warily.

They hadn't heard from the duo since they said they were going to try scoping out the area.

"Only one way to find out" Strange muttered, using his magic to open the doors, not trusting that there wasn't some kind of trick waiting for them.

Cautiously, the trio stepped through the doorway, gingerly stepping onto the tiled floor in case there were some kind of Indiana Jones style traps waiting for them.

Well Loki and Tony did. Levi refused to let Strange risk touching the floor, and as such the sorcerer was currently floating safely above the tiles.

The moment the three of them were within the threshold, the double doors behind them slammed shut with a dramatic ominous echo.

After reflexively looking behind them (a foolish rookie mistake), the trio continued forward.

While the outside of the main building had looked the same, the inside certainly was not.

In fact the hallway reminded Tony of one of those trick hallways, the ones that seemed to go on forever and ever, and no matter how fast or far you walked you never seemed to be able to reach the door at the end of the hall.

'Cute' Tony thought sarcastically, 'Maximoff is just going to toy with us in this little funhouse of hers'

Just as Strange and Loki were both about to suggest their own theories on how to escape the Trick Hall, the faint notes of violins whispered in the silence.

Loki and Strange's hands immediately began to glow, and Tony snapped his helmet back onto his head, activating one of his cannons, the three of them standing in a triangle formation back to back.

The sound of the violins slowly increased, getting louder and louder, the bobbity cheer of the music out of place in the ominous hall making them increasingly uneasy, and more and more on edge then they were already. 

🎶 _"Welcome. Welcome. Let's all go. Take my hand and I'll show you…"_ 🎶

The walls around them began to shrink, boxing them in. Trapping them.

🎶 _"Down the rabbit hole we go"_ 🎶

The walls spun like tops.

🎶 _"One"_ 🎶

With jagged teeth and beady eyes a doorway swallowed Loki whole.

🎶 _"Two"_ 🎶

With the force of a vortex, Strange was sucked up into the ceiling.

🎶 _ **"Three"**_ 🎶

And the last thing Tony saw was darkness.

* * *

Tony groaned as he came to. Shifting on his aching back.

Opening his eyes, Tony sat up with a start, the quick heavings of anxiety forming as he realized two things.

1). His suit was gone.

And 2). His surroundings.

Laying atop a glowing aquamarine platform that looked about as solid as photons, Tony was met with the ink black of space. Surrounded by swirling asteroids and galaxies.

Tony immediately tried to call forth his armour...Only for nothing to happen.

_"When I ordered the hit on you, I was worried that I was killing the golden goose. But, you see, it was just fate that you survived, leaving one last golden egg to give"_

_Suddenly he was on his back, Steve using his shield to slice through the reactor, snuffing out its light...His life._

In a panic Tony yanked down at his shirt to find the safe pulsing glow of the reactor still active and undamaged.

The knowledge that the reactor hadn't been destroyed was a small comfort that slowed his panicked gasps...Though it did nothing about the fact he was trapped on a platform in _space_.

'This isn't real. This isn't real' Tony mentally repeated to himself as a desperate mantra, 'Just an elaborate illusion crafted from the inner workings of my mind in order to drive me insane'

And it wasn't going to work!

He wouldn't let it!

Taking a moment to regain his breathing (though the feelings of dread and anxiety didn't dissipate), Tony forced himself to stand, cursing his wobbly legs to right themselves, and focused properly on his surroundings in order to locate a way out.

Looking around Tony realized that not all the moving objects were asteroids…

They were moving platforms...and portals.

Portals with varying different locations. From deserts and caves, to shark infested waters and the cold snow covered lands of Siberia.

Tony resisted the urge to give the universe the middle finger for conveniently making every location a PTSD vacation getaway.

Rubbing his hands harshly against his face he steeled his nerves and prepared his muscles to jump.

He wasn't sure where the platforms would take him, but he couldn't very well just stay here for the remainder of his life.

Timing his jump, Tony launched himself off the platform, and onto the equally transparent looking rose red colored one passing by him, expecting it to be as deceptively solid as the one he had been laying on.

...It wasn't.

Without warning, Tony phased right through the platform, a startled scream wrenching its way from his throat as he plummeted to his death.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the desert portal made its way under him.

Preparing himself for a mouthful of sand, Tony instead felt as though he'd collided with a stone wall, landing atop the desert scene with a resounding thud that echoed for miles.

"Ugh" Tony groaned, ignoring the pain shooting through his body as he slowly lifted up his knuckles and rapped on the apparently solid _platform_ , "Cute"

Standing up Tony found himself at a loss.

There were no rules here.

The laws of physics and basic common sense didn't apply.

Which meant that he couldn't be sure what was a platform and what was a portal.

🎶 _"Into darkness"_

_"Into wonder"_

_"All you need is to go down under"_

_"The cottontail is beckoning"_

_"A world awaits"_ 🎶

No.

No fucking way.

🎶 _"Rid the hesitation"_

_"Rid all you know"_

_"For it is time"_

_"Down the rabbit hole we go"_ 🎶

This had to be some kind of joke.

A sick and twisted mind game Maximoff's little horror house had devised.

Because there was no fucking way he was just going to jump off this platform and _freefall_ into the nothingness of space.

🎶 _"One"_ 🎶

Tony froze in horror.

🎶 _"Two"_ 🎶

"No" Tony exclaimed in terror, "No. Don't even think about it!"

🎶 _"Three"_ 🎶

And with that, the desert beneath him vanished.

Tony flailed, desperate for anything to grab as he made his descent into the vast void of space.

There was nothing.

And as Tony fell screaming the world laughed.

* * *

'Ow' was the first thing on Tony's mind the second he awoke, grunting in pain as he forcibly stretched his aching muscles across the bed covers.

"That sucked" Tony grumbled, letting out a sigh of relief that everything had just been a giant nightmare.

"Then I'll just have to make things a little more pleasurable for you now won't I?"

Tony stiffened, his heart stuttering in his chest.

Without warning the sheets came alive, wrapping themselves around his wrists and yanking his back down onto the bed, the covers tucking themselves tight and snug beneath the mattress.

He was trapped.

110% shit out of luck.

Walking into the peacefully staged illusory bedroom, Maximoff looked calm and at ease dressed in a red laced cashmere nightgown.

For someone who was supposed to be off her rocker she looked fairly stable. Though Tony figured all the truly psychotic ones seemed to have an innate talent for acting...Or maybe Maximoff was just so far off the edge of the proverbial cliff she'd passed the incoherent maniacal stage.

A shiver went up Tony's spine at the way Maximoff was looking at him.

Like a loving wife would gaze upon her husband.

The moment Maximoff began to lightly saunter her way over to him, Tony began to hyperventilate.

🎶 _"Welcome. Welcome. Don't you fear"_

_"For insight and madness it's all the same"_

_"Will you fall? Or will you see?"_

_"The endless possibilities"_ 🎶

The moment Maximoff's fingers caressed his abdominals, worlds flashed behind Tony's eyes.

🎶 _"One"_ 🎶

Dying by the Winter Soldier's bullet at seventeen. Noticing Stane's treachery sooner. Dying on the makeshift operating table in Afghanistan with hands buried in his chest. Marrying Pepper.

🎶 _"Two"_ 🎶

Dying by Obadiah's scheming hand. Ultron remaining a forgotten project. Trapped alone as Natasha closed the portal too soon. Marrying Maya Hansen.

🎶 _"Three"_ 🎶

Pepper dying within the flames of Extremis. Finding unexpected companionship in redemption. Killed by Thanos' blade. Solace in another who understood what it felt like to always fall short. Killed by Steve's hand.

Marrying Wanda.

"Time to go home" Wanda exclaimed, her lips just brushing Tony's in a faint victorious smile.

🎶 _"Down the rabbit hole we go"_ 🎶

And together they vanished in a flash of red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "We're all mad here" ~ Mad Hatter
> 
> *Please no one steal my song lyrics. I came up with the song myself and the lyrics belong to me. Thank you and I hope you all liked it!


	5. All According to Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi All!
> 
> The story is quickly reaching its climax....Get ready for all the unexpected surprises, heartbreaks, and cliffhangers coming up in the next chapter.
> 
> Enjoy this one!

(Third POV)

**Do you know how to win?**

* * *

Natasha cautiously made her way through the ‘Realm of Mirrors’ as she had taken to calling it.

When she and Bucky had made their way down to the Track to see if they could find Steve or Sam, the both of them had been engulfed in a sea of darkness, sucked into the turf the moment their feet touched the barren track.

Alone, Natasha wasn’t sure how long she had been walking for before she started hearing the soft lull of a familiar tune.

Cinderella, Op 87.

The music steadily got louder and louder as she made her way forward...sideways, backwards, upside down, she wasn’t sure.

All there was, was darkness…

That was until the pristine ballet mirrors lifted up out of the darkness like shadows, reflecting her image back at her...Trapping her in a funhouse of mirrors.

The kicker was that her reflection changed with each mirror.

Each one displaying a different persona she had taken on in the past.

Natalia Romanova

Tatiana Sokolova

Irina Zlataryova

Natalie Rushman

Natasha Romanoff

Natasha Romanoff-Barnes

The Tool.

The Masks.

The agent.

The assassin.

The Avenger.

The wife and mother.

_“You know it’s kinda hard to trust someone when you don’t know who that someone really is”_

Natasha froze in place at the familiar words.

_“Yeah...Who do you want me to be?”_

The Black Widow was staring at her expectantly from within the glass.

_“You were supposed to be the best”_

Natasha willed herself not to shiver at the haunting echo of Madame B’s accusing voice around her.

_“Broken”_

Natasha flinched, placing herself in a defensive stance the moment the mirror in front of her shattered to a million pieces.

_“You were once made of marble...But I suppose not even marble can stand up to iron”_

Natasha caught movement out of the corner of her eye and swiveled her head to see herself in the mirrors like a movie projection. Watching as Natalie Rushman walked into the Stark Tower penthouse gym...The first day she had met her Mark...Met Tony Stark.

_“You have a quiet reserve. I don’t know, you have an old soul-”_

_“I meant your fingerprint”_

_“Compulsive behavior. Prone to self-destructive tendencies. Textbook narcissism”_

_“ **Sloppy** ”_

Natasha flinched as the vicious disappointment in the tone.

Even after all this time, the woman’s words instinctively cut deep.

_“You were meant to have a place in this world”_

Images of her various missions flit across the panes.

Budapest.

Interrogating Loki.

Closing the portal over New York.

Her guise as Hawley.

The Hulk’s Lullaby.

Choosing the Accords.

Fighting Proxima Midnight.

_“But it would seem that you were just another failure, hidden behind a smokescreen of potential that you never were able to live up too...Just like the rest”_

Never correcting her false assessment of Tony Stark to the Team.

Releasing all of SHIELD’s intel.

Shoving Bruce down that crater.

Letting Steve and James go.

Believing that Wanda was like her.

_“You failed”_

She was supposed to be the best.

There was no place for anyone of no use.

And she needed to be useful.

If she wasn’t, she was dead.

She became whatever she needed to be to survive.

_“You know it’s kinda hard to trust someone when you don’t know who that someone really is”_

_“Yeah...Who do you want me to be?”_

Suddenly, a moment’s clarity hit her like a freight train as she remembered her own words.

‘Truth is a matter of circumstance. It’s not all things to all people all the time...And neither am I’.

She knew what she needed to do.

She knew who she needed to be.

She understood now.

How to play the game.

Around her all the mirrors shattered.

* * *

_“Eyes on the road”_

Car horns blared at a deafening volume, the sound of crunching metal and shattering glass echoing in the void Strange was being sucked through before he was jolted and found himself inside a race car.

Sucking in a breath of horror, Strange attempted to leave the vehicle, only for the seat beats to come alive and criss-cross across his chest and waist, locking him and Levi in place.

As if it were powered by a rocket, the car ignited forward, forcing Strange to instinctively grip the wheel, even as weak as his grip was.

_“Eyes on the road”_

Suddenly, driverless race cars made their way past him, scraping the sides of his vehicle and knocking him aside.

_“Eyes on the road”_

Strange’s panic only increased as random people, children, animals, and objects randomly poofed in existence on the track, his tires squealing as he again and again barely managed to veer away from the obstacles by the skin of his teeth (which were uncontrollably chattering at the moment), and dealing with the other race cars that apparently thought they were bumper cars, intentionally trying to knock him into the objects that appeared in his path.

_“Eyes on the road”_

He needed to get out of here.

_“Eyes on the road”_

There had to be a way out.

Something he needed to do.

_“Eyes on the road”_

“Eyes on the road” Strange muttered consideringly, veering at Levi’s behest when he'd been distracted while he was momentarily lost in thought.

That had to mean something.

Strange sucked in a shaky breath, reigning in his focus so he could use his magic.

_“Eyes on the road”_

Suddenly the track changed.

He was no longer on a raceway.

...He was in a crash testing site.

Headed straight for the wall.

* * *

He was falling again.

An endless void.

Nothing.

No one.

He was alone.

_"Your birthright was to die"_

He had rejected that fate for so long.

Refused to accept it.

Fought against it.

Fought to prove those words wrong.

Fought to self-preserve.

_“Dread it. Run from it. Destiny still arrives”_

His death by the Titan’s fist.

Dead at the Witch’s command.

_“Sacrifice is inevitable” the Norns warned, “Death is inevitable”_

No!

**No!**

Loki shook his head, the whirls of wind whipping his hair in every direction in his freefall.

_“Go on your little journey of enlightenment. I’ll be here waiting for you to come back and tell you that predetermined destinies are a load of crap”_

Anthony.

Morgan.

Jamie.

He will not let the fear of destiny and fate stop him.

He will continue to forge his own destiny.

No matter what that destiny may turn out to be.

* * *

When Bucky finally found him, Steve’s eyes were manic and unseeing, tears waterfalling down his face and ugly sobbing gasps tearing it’s way through his throat, his body tangled in miles and miles of severed yarn, fingers swollen and sore as he tried fruitlessly to tie the cut threads back together.

_“I’m with you. Til the end of the line”_

_“ **Liar** ”_

The haunting words echoed through Steve’s skull, the sharp vicious stings only worsening his fumbling fingers and lacking dexterity.

_“I’m with you. Til the end of the line”_

Steve desperately tried to tie Bucky’s black and red thread to his...But there was no end left.

Sharon’s white one on one end, and little James and Sarah’s combined starry thread on the other.

No room for the Avengers.

No spot for Peggy.

No place for Bucky.

He’d made his choice.

_“I’m with you. Til the end of the line”_

_“ **Liar** ”_

He’d chosen a cheap substitute, and to follow social norms and expectations over his true love.

He destroyed his family.

And even after the conclusion of it all, he still drew his own line...

And he couldn’t fix it!

The threads wouldn’t come off!

They wouldn’t come off!!

They wouldn’t come off!!!

_“It’s the end of the line Liar”_

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. N-

Not being able to watch as Steve spiraled further and further into insanity, Bucky did the humane thing.

He punched his friend in the head.

Really really hard.

Cognitive recalibration and whatnot.

Bucky watched as The Track reworked itself again, looking very much like the Avengers track should this time around.

But Bucky knew better.

He’d just escaped from the last horror room Maximoff’s little funhouse had sent him to.

A wonderful little trip down nightmare lane. Filled with echoes of “Wipe him” and his former trigger words. All while strapped in the Chair at Zola’s lab.

But despite the irrationality of this House of Insanity, there were still 'rules' to each location you were sent.

An insight into yourself that you needed to find.

Fortunately Stark’s arc reactor distanced the effects of Maximoff’s magic from him just enough for him to figure that little tidbit out.

Steve (and most others) didn’t have that advantage.

Bucky didn't want to know where he'd be if Stark's Arc Watch wasn't shielding him…

As Hydra agents, and his past victims came charging at him with wild vengeful looks in their eyes, Bucky rightly guessed the theme of his next psychological battle.

_“Run”_

* * *

_"Only if you go as a friend"_

Sam laughed hysterically, doubling over in fits of hysterics.

As a friend. Ha! He was funny!

Go as a friend.

What did he know about friendship? Ha! Nothing!

Riley fell to his death.

Rhodes is paralyzed.

Why? Because he chose the mission first.

Friends? Ha! They were his punishment for his blindness.

_"Only if you go as a friend"_

He involved Lang in their ‘Civil War’.

Steve self-destructed because he didn't intervene to help him adjust better to modern society.

He sent Tony to his death.

Friends? Ha! They were his arrogance.

_"Only if you go as a friend"_

He didn't intervene with Wanda's spiraling descent.

He should have noticed Tony's PTSD sooner.

Friends? Ha! They were just the living examples of how much of a failure he was at his job.

Counselor. Hahahahaha! That was a good one.

_"Only if you go as a friend"_

Friends caused pain.

'Friendship' was merely false pleasantries.

A 'kind' way to use and manipulate people.

A concept that did more harm than good and should just be done away with-

Sam never noticed as a sharp jab cut him cleanly across his jaw, silencing the voices.

"Blaming yourself for everything isn’t conducive. At a certain point we all need to be more self-aware" Natasha exclaimed, huffing out a breath at finally having solved her way through the funhouse ‘corridors’ enough to locate one of her team members.

‘Now I just need to find where James and Steve are in this stupid Track…Or better yet where Maximoff is’ Natasha mentally grumbled, exhausted from all the mind games.

Suddenly, everything around her jolted as if an earthquake had struck.

Bracing herself for yet another horror show, Natasha was surprised when the illusions around her puffed away in a haze of red smoke, leaving her and an unconscious Sam back on the turf track.

Tense and ready to strike, not in the least bit trusting of her eyes, Natasha quickly scanned her surroundings, pausing when her eyes locked with James’ on the other side of the field.

The both of them looked on in amazement as the Compound slowly returned to normal.

The grass was no longer actual blades. The fog lifted from the forest. The Hanger no longer looked like an abandoned and decrepit slaughterhouse.

It was as if Maximoff's little funhouse was never there.

“What kind of fresh hell is this?” Natasha muttered, unsure if this was yet another illusion or not.

Turning her gaze back to James, she made a reluctant decision.

Only one way to find out.

* * *

"We are wasting our time here! We need to locate Anthony now!" Loki bellowed, thoroughly pissed off with how calm everyone except him seemed to be.

"Stark's gone. If I had to guess he likely caught up to Wanda and she took off with him" Bucky speculated unhappily, still wired and coming down from his PTSD trip.

He didn't like that Stark was stuck with someone who wouldn't hesitate to fuck with his head.

Especially one that was so unhinged and obsessed with him.

"No Stark. No funhouse. And the focal point of the rift has disappeared. I think it's safe to say that wherever Maximoff is we'll find Stark" Strange observed, able to breathe easier now that he wasn't trapped in a loop of his worst trauma and fears.

"Why can't you just use the Mind Stone to fix things? Even if Vision could only stave off Madness' effects at least it would give the world a reprieve" Natasha inquired, her mask of calm as fragile as glass as she tried to distract herself with the matter at hand.

"He can't" Loki grit out in bitter frustration.

"Why?" Bucky asked curiously.

"Because the Mind Stone is currently imitating a petty teenager" Strange deadpanned, though the annoyance in his eyes was clear.

"Great. So because one of the most powerful items in the universe is a sore loser we're on our own" Natasha reworded in exasperation.

"So it would seem" Strange grumbled, "Besides, using the Mind Stone would only be a bandaid. We'd need the Reality Stone for a more permanent fix"

"Any chance Carol or the Collector is sane enough for us to contact right now?" Bucky inquired, not sounding like he believed either of those options were actually viable.

"The Collector was already mildly unhinged. I would think best not to cross him or Danvers at the moment" Loki highly recommended.

"So then what are our options?" Natasha near demanded, not liking the extremely precarious position they were in.

"You were able to locate Maximoff before right? Can you do that again?" Bucky asked, eyeing Strange hopefully.

"I can, but we'd just end up in the same pitfall as before. We can't get near her without going through the Realm of Madness that's surrounding her" Strange informed them, trying to think of a way around the merging dimensions.

_"You think this is over. But the seeds of Madness have already been planted” Nightmare mocked as Strange and Vision locked him back away, surrounding him with chains._

"Then we go through the Dream Dimension" Loki proclaimed, his expression darkening with the promise of the Witch's death.

* * *

**You win by letting them think that they're in control.**

* * *

"Are we certain this is a good idea?" Natasha questioned once again, stepping out of Strange's portal and onto the upturned sidewalk.

"Nervous?" Loki mockingly sneered, making his way up the stairs to the New York Sanctum.

"There just seems to be a lot of margin for things to go wrong" Natasha retorted, following after him.

"Welcome to the world of possibilities" Strange sarcastically scoffed, moving to open the deceptively normal looking door...and halting.

Bucky took a quick stock as to why.

"I don't suppose your doors magically open themselves when expecting your return?" Bucky darkly jested, pulling out one of his handguns.

Natasha did the same.

"No they don't" Strange rebuked, his voice no more than a whisper as he tensed his muscles for a fight, unsure what to expect when they went inside.

Slowly the door was pushed aside without so much as a creak.

Carefully stepping within the threshold, each of them wary from their latest experiences, Loki and Strange activated their magic, ready to strike out if necessary.

"Welcome home" an eerily familiar sarcastic voice echoed from the top of the elaborate staircase.

But instead of purple and black and a quiver full of arrows, the group was met with the sight of black and gold and a sword stained with red.

Bodies of Kamar-Taj trainees littering the hall.

"Clint" Natasha desperately addressed, aiming her gun at critical, but non-vital points, "Wanda is messing with your head again. This isn't you"

"You're right. Clint's not here. You're talking to Ronin now" Clint exclaimed, swiping the blood off his blade with the jagged edges on the bicep of his armor.

"And what does Ronin want?" Loki inquired, readying himself to (enjoyably) blast the assassin into the wall.

"The extermination of all Magic. So that no one suffers from having their mind and world toyed with ever again" Clint proclaimed, his tone dark and possessed.

"Wanda may be a threat, but Laura wouldn't want you to kill innocent sorcerers" Natasha tried to reason, though she knew it'd be a fruitless endeavor...Instead she needed to keep him talking so that she could get a clean shot.

But Clint was watching each and every one of their muscle movements like a hawk, predicting their next attacks.

Clint's eyes darkened in a fire Natasha had never seen before.

Hellfire.

"My family's dead" Clint exclaimed in a deceptively calm fury, his voice hollow and grieving, "My family's dead because I left them"

"I thought you said you sent everyone to the Mirror dimension for safe keeping?" Loki questioned Strange, his voice barely a whisper, though his gaze never left the broken assassin.

Clint's eyes narrowed as he read the sorcerer's lips.

"I said _mostly_ everyone. I don't have a tracker on each and every person nor do we have the time to track each and every one of them down. If people weren't in the locations you told me then they weren't sent to the Mirror dimension" Strange corrected, taking offense.

"And because Barton wasn't home when you sent his wife and kids to the Mirror dimension, them not being at the farmhouse only confirmed his nightmare" Natasha concluded grimly, uneasy at how Clint wasn't demanding answers or calling them liars (she knew he was reading their lips and knew exactly what they were saying).

"So this gross oversight is your fault once again" Loki jokingly barbed, though his tone was more of a casual seriousness.

"Says the person who thought he'd win Daddy's love by having his home invaded" Strange countered viciously right back.

"For your sake I pray that you did not lie when you said all my children and my niece are safe" Loki hissed out, the warning clear in his glowing green eyes.

"They are with Banner, Valkyrie, and your Brother and Jane. I prioritized the kids and Banner first. Good thing too. He and the Hulk were arguing" Strange exclaimed, sounding mildly exasperated.

"...With whom?" Loki inquired, unable to cease his curiosity despite the circumstances.

"Each other" Strange deadpanned.

Loki snorted in amusement.

"Tony always did say that Bruce needed to give the Big Guy more breathing room" Natasha considered thoughtfully.

"If you're all quite done trying to distract me? I have a job to finish" Clint proclaimed, twirling his sword in his hand, "Everyone here's dead...All except you, the Snake, that nutty librarian, and the one that escaped...The one raving about restoring balance”

'Restoring balance?' Strange thought, his eyebrows scrunching in confusion.

"Yes well...I think that you'll find that we're on a time crunch as well" Loki retorted right back, the assassin's entire form outlined in green as he unhesitatingly bound Barton in place with his telekinesis.

Clint snarled and spat out curses like a caged rabid animal.

Natasha had no doubt that if he was able, Clint would be lashing out his limbs and blades, no matter how pointless the action.

"Sleep" Loki commanded, unrepentantly weaving his magic within the assassin's mind in order to lull him into a state of relaxed calm.

Not a few moments later Clint's fell to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been severed.

Snapping out of the shock, Strange conjured ropes and cuffs, trapping Clint before knocking him into the Mirror dimension with everyone else.

Loki stalked forward ignoring the tense mistrustfulness in the Russian duo.

The time for games was over.

Black and white. Good and bad. They were of no consequence anymore.

Besides, he never worked in either end anyway.

He always preferred shades of gray.

* * *

Bucky wasn't sure what he had expected when they'd stepped foot into the Dream Dimension.

Though if he was being honest, he'd expected something more along the lines of a cartoon world.

Cotton candy clouds. Chocolate rivers. A mountain made out of gold maybe for the adults. Something out of a kid's imagination (Or maybe his mind was just stuck on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).

Instead he was met with a barren lifeless world of dry cracked Earth with gravelly sand and dusty rocks and cliffs the color of blood. Dead trees that looked as if they'd been scorched, and the sky was a pinkish red, made that way by the soul-crushing heat of the red sun blazing overhead in the sky.

Bucky wasn't surprised to learn that the only things 'alive' in this area of the dimension were the Shadows. Creepy faceless motherfuckers who were the literal embodiment of the husks of humans and other beings that had been dragged into the Dream Dimension and gone insane, becoming Nightmare's personal attack dogs.

Bucky didn't want to know what they were going to turn into if Madness actually succeeded in his plans.

Though he supposed even in another dimension some cliches still held.

Apparently Nightmare liked creepy ornate black brimstone castles surrounded by a moat of purply-black poison, drawbridges, and creepy hallways barely lit by candlelight.

"I had a feeling that I would be seeing you again sooner or later" Nightmare mocked, his grin ugly and terrifying.

Even covered in fiery golden chains, the entity looked no less threatening.

The sheer aura surrounding the demon left them all feeling off kilter.

Paranoid.

As if they were walking around in a night terror they would never awaken from.

"That so?" Strange dralled, Levi floating him over to the demon (though not too close).

"You didn't heed my warnings" Nightmare shrugged, the chains rising and falling with his shoulders, his tone was casual though his eyes screamed amusement.

"You could have been a little less vague" Loki deadpanned, his eyes glowing a threatening green.

He would get the answers he came for no matter what.

"Madness is very opportunistic" Nightmare chuckled, amused by the false Asgardian child's warning.

"What does Madness exactly hope to achieve?" Natasha inquired, stepping forward just close enough to make her presence known, but not close enough to be further sucked into the demon's aura.

"Why, the same thing I hoped to my dear" Nightmare purred, leering at the Black Widow with an interested gleam in his eyes, one that was sharper than glass.

She always had some of the most delicious nightmares.

"Power" Natasha deduced, resisting the urge to shiver as the monster seemed to be faxing right into her soul, judging and praising her scars and regrets.

"Everyone wishes for power Love. It had been quite a few millennia since my last attempt at conquest. The Witch was a lively change to my usual droll dealings and an opportunity I could not resist" Nightmare exclaimed, sounding unrepentantly giddy.

"And how'd that work out for you?" Loki sarcastically mocked, narrowing his eyes sharply at the Entity.

"I was over-eager. I suppose you understand. Even Nightmare has fantasies. All the lovely things I want to do to your world...But to achieve them...I needed you all gripped by nightmares. All humanity, simultaneously" Nightmare regaled, his eyes distant as he thought of all the wondrous possibilities.

"And Maximoff was the perfect vessel" Bucky exclaimed, crossing his arms across his chest in what he hoped didn't seem defensive.

"Indeed" Nightmare smirked, obviously not fooled by the Soldier's bravado.

"And now Madness is doing the same thing" Bucky pushed on, refusing to let the demon cause him to break, ignoring the sweat rolling down the back of his neck.

"The annoying twat has always tried to usurp my position" Nightmare scoffed, sneering at the thought of his 'rival'.

"And Wanda's mental illness was his foot-in-the-door wasn't it? He needs everyone plagued by mental illness in order to expand his influence so that he can become the new King" Natasha hypothesized.

"Precisely. But you already knew that before coming here. So why don't you ask me what it is you truly wish to ask?" Nightmare mocked, his eyes knowing and sharp.

"How do we stop him?" Strange demanded, cutting the pleasantries.

"You already have all the answers you seek" Nightmare replied vaguely, leaning back onto his throne, the chains moving with him.

"Great, now he's a fortune cookie" Bucky muttered in annoyance.

"One of you already knows what must be done...He just doesn't want to" Nightmare hinted, enjoying the chaos and tension he was causing within the group.

Especially when they all turned to the God of Mischief, their eyes demanding answers.

It was good to be King.

* * *

**And just when they're starting to get comfortable...That's when you change all the rules.**

* * *

He watched through the distorted veil as the Red Witch used her magic to 'soothe' the fraying mind of her victim.

Like a glass-blower, she took his shattered pieces and used her magic to 'melt' them down again, reworking the material into a shape that fit the image she'd created in her head.

Turning him into _her_ masterpiece.

Wanda Maximoff.

Hydra's Asset.

The Scarlet Witch.

She was a threat to the natural order.

Consistently misused her powers.

Destroyed their reality _twice_.

Another poisonous root in the tree.

A sorcerer not worthy of possessing the gift.

He knew what he needed to do.

What he should have done long ago.

He just needed to wait for his chance.

And then the universe would have one less sorcerer to worry about.

* * *

Madness looked upon the blurred Earthly plane in satisfaction as the dimensions blended together.

Chaos.

Destruction.

_Madness._

**Yes.**

**All according to plan.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "There is a method to my madness; And a madness to my method" ~ Salvador Dali
> 
> *Part of the talk with Nightmare was quoted directly from the comics ;)


	6. The Things We Do For Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi All!
> 
> This chapter is a doozy.
> 
> Enjoy!

**(Third POV)**

No one said a word as the four of them exited through Strange's portal, relief washing over all of them as their footwear touched the Sanctum's wood floors.

More at ease now that they were no longer in the Dream Dimension, it still didn't stop the mistrustful glares being jabbed into the back of Loki's head.

Loki pointedly ignored the trio and traversed his way through the halls.

They were merely extras to this story.

No.

Not story.

This fucking Shakespearean worthy tragedy that seemed to be his and Anthony's lives.

"So are we going to acknowledge the elephant in the room or are you just going to pretend we're not here and plot alone?" Bucky sarcastically inquired, following after the alien prince alongside Nat and Strange.

"Your services are no longer required" Loki harshly clipped, coldly dismissing their presence, not even bothering to turn around and acknowledge them.

"You knew a way to stop Maximoff the entire time didn't you?" Natasha accused, her words sharper than Loki's Urdu knives, furious that the Trickster had played them, used them, and left the world in peril just because the method to win wasn't in his favor, or to his liking.

"The Norns bestowed upon me a vision" Loki ground out, his focus tunneling on where he needed to go, on what he needed to do, "I didn't like what I saw"

"You were trying to change it. To find another way" Strange realized, a nagging suspicion as to why the sorcerer would take such a risk starting to form in his mind.

Loki said nothing as he tried to tamper down the dread building in his stomach.

There was still a chance he could change things.

A slim to none one.

But nothing was ever zero percent.

"...What did they show you?" Bucky hesitantly asked, having formulated a few theories already in his head.

And praying that he was wrong.

"The Mind Stone" a familiar voice echoed, halting each of them immediately in their tracks.

Walking around the corridor as if nothing had ever happened was none other than Vision.

Strange and Loki immediately activated their magic, wrapping the Android in gold and green ropes.

"The Mind Stone was removed. How?" Natasha coldly demanded, palming her electromagnets just in case.

"The answer is simple Ms. Romanoff. I am not who you think I am" Vision stated, his form remaining pliant and unresisting to the restraints.

Loki's eyes narrowed at the Android before widening in awe and disbelief.

"You are JARVIS" Loki exclaimed, the green disappearing from his hands as he assessed the Android more closely.

"That is correct Mr. Laufeyson" the newly revealed Jarvis casually proclaimed.

"That's impossible" Natasha countered shortly, not believing the farce for a minute.

"Why? Who's Jarvis?" Bucky inquired curiously, confused by Loki and Nat's reactions.

Strange glanced between the Widow and Loki as well, his eyes silently demanding an answer before he made any moves to release the enemy as Loki had.

"JARVIS was one of Tony's AIs. His most advanced one. He was supposedly destroyed by Ultron, but he backed up his code. Tony later merged the remaining bits of JARVIS with the coding in the Cradle and created Vision. JARVIS is _gone_ " Natasha firmly emphasized.

"For a time I was. However with the Mind Stone no longer keeping me asleep I was finally able to overcome the parts of Ultron's coding that had merged with mine own and awoke to find myself...here" Jarvis calmly revealed, fully understanding their skepticism.

"Do you know where you are? What is the last thing that you remember?" Strange inquired, hearing the confusion in the former AI's voice and reluctantly released his own magical hold.

"I remember fighting Ultron's coding within the Cradle. Then the overwhelming presence of another sentient entity telling me to sleep...Then nothing" Jarvis detailed, his face scrunching in thought as he tried to recall more.

"This is the New York Sanctum. It is the home for those that practice the Mystic Arts" Loki quickly began cliff-noting, knowing that time was still of the essence, "A great much has happened in the years you have been asleep. Right now Wanda Maximoff is currently holding Anthony hostage and playing mind games with the world in order to achieve her own end. Is the Mind Stone still within the room you left?"

Jarvis immediately snapped to attention at the mention of Tony's safety being compromised.

Especially by that Red _Witch_.

Jarvis knew that it was ultimately the Witch's fault that Ultron had occurred.

That she had wanted Sir _dead._

He refused to let her hurt his Father again.

"The Mind Stone remains within its containment" Jarvis confirmed, a clear dangerous note to his tone.

"Good" Loki nodded, straightening his spine, his eyes harder than diamonds.

"Why?" Bucky inquired, narrowing his eyes at the Prince, "I thought you and Strange said that asking the Mind Stone for help would be pointless"

"The Realm of Madness is connected to Maximoff's mental health. If her sanity can be restored, no matter how temporarily, it will allow us the chance to get close to her and end this charade once and for all" Loki revealed, though his tone wasn't happy in the slightest.

"At what cost?" Strange inquired sharply, narrowing his eyes at Loki.

The Infinity Stones were sentient beings each with their own personalities.

Depending on their moods they could be fickle or playful at best. Giving you what you asked for but not the way you expected.

Hell the entire reason the Soul Stone kept the souls of those sacrificed was because it was _lonely._

And right now the Mind Stone was _pissed off._

Strange wasn't sure he wanted to know the cost of getting the Stone's help (even if they really did need it).

_“Sacrifice is inevitable” the Norns warned, “Just as death is inevitable”_

Loki ignored the wizard as he bypassed Jarvis and stepped into the empty guest room, steeling his nerves as he gingerly lifted the nano-tech box up off the bed before clenching it tightly in his fist.

"We're about to find out" Loki exclaimed, weaving his magic within the tech and it opened for him like a blooming flower with the Mind Stone cradled within the center of the metal petals, glowing a furious pulsating yellow.

"What can I do?" Jarvis asked (read: demanded), determined to be of some use.

"Track Anthony's Extremis signature. I am certain Friday, Anthony's current AI, can assist you should you contact her" Loki detailed, his eyes never wavering from the enemy in his palm.

"And you?" Natasha inquired, not liking the feeling of being helpless and surrounded by unknowns.

" _I_ will be making a deal with the Devil" Loki proclaimed, his tone dark and humorless as he placed his palm upon the Stone.

Pain unlike anything he'd ever felt coursed through every vein in his body.

Every cell felt as though it were being electrocuted.

_"Well well. Look who came running back" a snide voice scoffed within his mind._

The world went black.

* * *

“Daddy watch this!” Billy excitedly exclaimed, his expression growing serious as he focused all his mentally energy to his surprise.

Tony resisted the urge to snicker at the little tongue poking its way out of his son’s mouth, pulling his wife closer to his side as they shifted on the picnic blanket to kink out any rumples.

Blue energy surrounded Billy’s hands, surrounding the clump of soil contained within them.

After a few moments of nothing and a frustrated growl, a daisy began to sprout from the soil.

Elated with his success the toddler near shoved the newly grown plant in his Father’s face.

“I did it! I did it!” Billy happily screeched, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Tony let out an amused laugh as he ruffled his son’s hair, “Gonna be a heartbreaker with that nifty little trick”.

Suddenly, Billy was knocked over into the grass and budding flowers by a whirlwind of silvery-white.

Still working on stopping, Tommy ended up on his behind as well with a thump, freshly yanked flowers, roots and soil still attached, flying everywhere.

“Whoa there Lightning McQueen, careful where you park” Tony exclaimed, lifting Tommy up off the grass as Wanda helped up Billy.

“See I can get you flowers too Daddy!” Tommy cheered, looking all proud of his toddler self.

“Sure did” Tony hummed in agreement, eyeing the flowers curiously, “And where did you get such pretty flowers?”

“The giant cups” Tommy innocently replied.

“Giant cups huh? These giant cups wouldn’t happen to have been outside someone’s house would they?” Tony asked, eyebrow raised.

“Yup. There was a whole lot” Tommy exclaimed, his arms held out wide to show them just how many.

“Tommy!” Wanda exclaimed, in shock, her tone gently scolding, “You can’t take someone else’s flowers. That’s wrong. You wouldn’t want someone taking your toys would you?”

“Well she wasn’t using them” Tommy said, an adorable pout forming on his face.

“Ha! Tommy was bad! Tommy was bad!” Billy singsonged, sticking his tongue out at his brother in jealous vengeance at having his moment with Daddy interrupted.

“Everyone makes mistakes” Tony lightly scolded, patting the mini-magician’s head.

“Everyone uses cups right?” Tony calmly asked, addressing Tommy.

“Yeah” Tommy answered, looking confused.

“So if the flowers were in giant cups she was using the flowers right?” Tony questioned, tilting his head slightly to the side as he waited for Tommy’s reply.

Tommy’s mouth fell open in shock, “...Oopsies”

“That’s okay” Wanda sighed, giving her son an exasperated smile, “We’ll go say sorry”

“And buy her some new better flowers right?” Tony replied, winking at Tommy.

“Yeah! Better flowers!” Tommy cheered.

“Humph. I can make her better flowers” Billy sniffed, trying to get his Daddy’s attention back.

“We’ll do both” Tony replied, ruffling both his sons’ hair.

Tommy and Billy both smiled brighter than the rays of the sun before scampering off into the meadow.

“It almost makes me jealous” Wanda whispered, resting her head on her husband’s shoulder as they settled back onto the picnic blanket, letting the gentle peacefulness of their surroundings settle her.

“Don’t worry, you’ll always be a close second when it comes to World’s Greatest Parent” Tony jested.

Wanda jokingly gave her teasing husband a light smack on his arm.

“Funny. But I was talking about them” Wanda corrected.

“Hm?” Tony silently inquired, a mischievous glint in his eyes, “If that’s the case then clearly I’m not doing my husbandly duties very well”

Just as the pair leaned in for a passionate kiss, Tony found himself jolted out of his body, the world tilt-a-whirling around him.

Spinning.

His world...No...The very workings of his mind were spinning.

Without warning, it suddenly felt as if someone had jammed a white hot poker into his brain and began forcefully yanking out all its inner workings. Reeling out his every thought, his every memory into a centrifuge around him.

Screwing his eyes tightly shut, Tony clawed at his head as his memories were forcefully filtered and cleaned out like a sewer system, ridding his mind of all the disgusting waste, his mouth open in a silent never ending scream.

Even after the vortex had concluded the pain only slowly ebbed away.

If there was a floor wherever the hell he was, Tony was sure he was curled up on it in a tightly wrapped ball as he tried to will the pain to vamoose.

“-ny”

No.

“-ony”

Make the sound go away.

“-thony”

It hurt too much.

“Anthony”

...Loki?

“Anthony please”

Through sheer force of will Tony forced his eyelids open, wincing at the brightness around him before he focused his sight on the blurry figure kneeling above him.

“Loki?” Tony near whimpered, not even caring how pathetic he sounded.

This was _Loki._

His _husband._

His _real_ spouse.

The _true_ love of his life and soul-mate.

Not that Mind-raping _Bitch._

Tony clenched his fingers roughly in his hair, yanking them at their roots as he let his husband pull him comfortingly into his lap.

He was safe.

He was _safe._

“I’ve got you my Love” Loki whispered gently, wrapping his arms tightly around Tony in relief.

“She-she-” Tony ground out through the slowly dissipating agony. unable to verbalize the psychotic fantasy Maximoff had trapped him in.

God the things he’d _done._

“What she made you do” Loki sharply corrected, fiercely tightening his grip on Tony, “Not a moment of it was your own free will”

‘Doesn’t ease the guilt any’ Tony thought despondently, hesitantly taking stock of his surroundings now that he was no longer blinded by pain.

For a moment Tony actually thought he was still hallucinating. That this was just another one of Maximoff’s nightmares that she used to irreparably break him.

But it was no trick.

They were back in the Mind Stone’s visionscape.

“How…?” Tony inquired, confused.

He thought M. Stone was ignoring all calls at the moment?

“He wants to make a deal” Loki grimly exclaimed, a sneer marring his features at the reminder of the reason they were here, the sense of relief and peace shattered.

Tony narrowed his eyes up at his husband, his body tensing once again, banishing the remaining bits of his pain to focus on the situation at hand.

“What _kind_ of deal?” Tony suspiciously demanded.

Tony lived his entire life under the scrutiny of vultures. He debated with voracious bloodthirsty hyenas ready to make him their next meal at the slightest hint of weakness on a daily basis. He worked alongside backstabbing traitors in a profession that requires the utmost trust in the people around you to watch your back.

So Tony could confidently say with all his years as a businessman, showman, and Avenger, that they sure as hell weren’t the ones holding all the cards here.

And if things were truly so desperate that Loki had caved and bartered with the Witch-Obsessed Otherworldly Power, then they were true and well screwed.

And he knew from experience that deals never turn out “fair” when someone else is holding all the cards.

He just wasn’t used to being on the losing side of that type of deal…

“The only one I am offering” a deep, almost mechanical voice corrected, the sound echoing from within the visionscape.

With a flash, ‘Vision’ materialized before them, though his attire now consisted of red and black robes, and his eyes were now an eerily luminescent yellow, not unlike the glow of the Mind Stone that was no longer on his forehead.

“That form is no longer yours to steal” Loki viciously spat, taking great offense at the form the Stone was still parading around in.

“So he’d never been Vision…” Tony sadly muttered to himself.

“Jarvis lives” Loki quickly corrected, jumping at the opportunity to lift his husband’s spirits, if ever so briefly.

“...What?” Tony exclaimed, turning his pleading eyes to his husband in shock, his voice so fragile, so barely audible, as if afraid that questioning Loki further would shatter the illusion he had to be in for such a thing to be real.

“With the Stone removed Jarvis conquered Ultron’s programming. He eagerly awaits your return” Loki happily revealed, gently cupping Tony’s face in assurance that this was not in fact another one of Maximoff’s mind games.

With a sniffle, Tony rapidly blinked away the welling tears in his eyes and compartmentalized the overwhelming bursting joy in his chest for a later time.

They needed to get through this trial first.

They can be happy _after_ they finally kill that damn Witch.

“So, what exactly is this no doubt ungenerous offer of yours that we won’t be accepting?” Tony demanded, using every last bit of his willpower to stand and glare down one of the most powerful sentient objects in the universe as if it couldn’t cause him to be brain dead without so much as a blink.

Fake it til you make it.

No matter how much more powerful someone was over you, if you let them see that they will walk all over you.

“One such as yourself should be more grateful that I fixed your mind at all, and not attempting to claw for ground you do not have” the Mind Stone exclaimed, raising an unamused eyebrow at the mutated human.

Tony merely clenched his teeth and crossed his arms over his chest, refusing to back down.

Recognizing the futile stubbornness the Mind Stone rolled its eyes and decided to spare itself the prolonged annoyance.

“I am able to temporarily cure the entire world, Wanda included, of Madness’ effects” the Mind Stone exclaimed, clearly baiting them.

“At what cost?” Tony demanded, narrowing his eyes at the entity.

“When I do, neither you nor your allies will kill Wanda for her transgressions. She will be arrested and detained for rehabilitation” the Mind Stone declared, his tone resolute and immoveable.

“ _And_?” Tony prompted, instinctively sensing that wasn’t the only stipulation.

Loki’s furious expression told him that much.

“And you will allow me to erase every memory you possess of Loki Laufeyson and Wanda Maximoff after the conclusion of the Battle of New York”

Aaaaannnnnnnd there it was.

Tony said nothing for several minutes. Staring into the firm unmoving gaze of the Mind Stone’s chosen form.

“You will not take _his_ memories” Loki proclaimed, placing himself between his husband and the delusional entity.

“Your life and memories are worth nothing to me” the Mind Stone deadpanned, brushing the Frost Giant’s notions and hopes to sacrifice himself aside, "Should you continue to attempt to bargain otherwise I will not hesitate to vaporize your brain entirely"

“You can-”

“Deal”

Loki nearly bit his own tongue off at the sudden resolute declaration by his _husband._

Even the Mind Stone jolted in surprise, having expected far more push back, denials, anger...

Loki wheeled around, his eyes alight with horror and fear.

“You don’t mean that...He doesn’t mean that! Clearly the Witch still has her grips on his mind and you failed to fix him properly!” Loki roared, jabbing a finger in the Mind Stone’s direction fury, wishing with every fiber of his being that his magic would suddenly become accessible to him in this realm.

He couldn’t lose him.

He _wouldn’t_ lose him!

He swore to never let another play with Anthony’s mind ever again!

A gentle hand wrapped around his.

Loki’s head swiveled, his icy eyes locking with tearfilled amber-brown.

“We have no leverage...And Maximoff needs to be stopped” Tony softly exclaimed, gripping his husband’s hand like a lifeline, terror laced with his words, and stray tears leaking from his lash barriers.

“No” Loki declared, his voice desperate and pleading.

“You know I’m right” Tony sadly proclaimed, accepting his fate.

“No”

“I’ll have you know I’m always right” Tony weakly jested, taking Loki’s other hand in his remaining free one.

“You’re not going to fight this? _You_?! You’re just going to let him take your memories of us. Of _me_?!” Loki exclaimed, fighting down both a panic attack and the urge to shake the commonsense back into his husband.

“Unfortunately this isn’t a wire I can completely cut through” Tony solemnly replied, the guilt and regret in his tone near palpable as the tears slid uncontested down his cheeks, "And you knew that...You saw that this would the end result and told those Water Faeries bullshit...Am I right?"

Loki closed his eyes in absolute frustration and agony.

Tony resisted the urge to sigh at having his theory confirmed.

God they just couldn’t win could they?

He knew that he and Loki were the Universe’s butt-monkey.

But this bullshit has reached such messed up heights that Shakespeare would be impressed.

“By binding us to this agreement he thinks he’s gifting the Witch with a chance to worm her way into your heart” Loki snarled out, pleading with Tony’s sanity to reconsider.

...His heart refused to allow what his brain and Anthony had already accepted.

Loki knew that Maximoff would still die.

The Norns had showed him.

And even Anthony seemed to have deduced that loophole for himself if the calm acceptance in his eyes was anything to go by.

Loki knew that there was no way Anthony would be so calm unless he had devised another way to complete the mission objective.

... Except he didn't want another way.

He wanted to _relish_ in the Witch's death.

To watch as the light slowly left her eyes as she died in agony by his own hand.

For her to feel _every ounce_ of suffering that she had laid upon him and his loved ones.

But _this_ way?

It felt as though Maximoff had still partially won against them.

And Maximoff _couldn’t_ win.

In _any_ capacity.

Not after everything.

Not like this.

“Hey”

Gentle calloused hands cradled Loki’s face, wiping away the tears the heart-broken sorcerer hadn’t even realized began falling.

“I fell in love with you once” Tony reminded him, a soft nostalgia in his eyes as his lips quirked in a small loving yet reassuring smile.

“Remind me why I did”

* * *

No. No. No!

Wanda let out a bloodcurdling scream of absolute _fury._

Red leaking out from every inch of her, he eyes crazed and unhinged, ignoring the still unconscious forms of her children beneath her as she stalked around, pacing in manic circles around Tony's body.

His mind was inaccessible to her!

One moment she had it all, and then _nothing_!

That shouldn't have been _possible._

Why?! Why?! _Why_?!

Without warning, as if a smothering fog had been lifted from her…

And with a stunning moment of unexpected clarity, she realized _everything_ she had done.

Everyone she had _hurt._

Everything she had created for _herself._

Frozen within her own warring morals, Wanda never noticed the rift from the Mirror Dimension opening up behind her.

Without preamble, Mordo used his magic to ram his hand through Maximoff's body, catching the woman off-guard as he probed through the very essence of her soul until he found what it was that he was looking for.

Wanda gasped.

Out of fear. Out of surprise.

Her limbs failed her as she was powerless to stop the unknown man from doing whatever it was that he was trying to accomplish. Cringing under the sheer odd and uncomfortable feeling of her very essence being painlessly probbed for...something.

Until he found it.

Blinding pain unlike anything she had ever felt before surged through every nerve, every cell within her body as the hand was retracted from her back.

Releasing his chokehold, Mordo paid no heed to the bloodcurdling screams from the former witch beneath him, gazing in a twisted pleased satisfaction at the glowing red essence of the source of Wanda Maximoff's magic in his palm.

Suddenly, Mordo felt a surge of vile dimensional magic overloading his senses.

Shifting his attention back to the undeserving wench he saw that she was glowing red, her body swelling and expanding with the energy of the Realm of Madness.

Mordo was hit with a sudden clarity.

He may have removed the magic Maximoff naturally contained, but he did not remove the essence of the Realm of Madness itself from her person.

He couldn't anyway.

Madness himself had made Maximoff's very being into the portal, and her own twisted magic was the very thread that kept the dimensional energy from tearing her apart.

Now she didn't have it.

In a panic, Mordo quickly portaled himself, Stark, and the two children to safety.

Watching through the Mirror Dimension as Maximoff blew apart like a bomb, the red and black energy of the Realm of Madness exploding outwards in twisted rippling waves.

The beautifully serene meadow shrivelled into a deadened wasteland.

The corpses of birds fell from the sky, landing with an unceremonious thud to the ground.

And then just as it appeared the magic would continue its destruction, suddenly, the jagged waves of red and black were suctioned back to the epicenter of the explosion.

Like a black hole sucking in all life, once the last of the energy returned, a brilliant flash of red briefly blinded him before winking out completely.

As if the rift...no...the Chaos, had never been there.

"There is always a price" Mordo muttered solemnly, uneasily to himself as he sealed the last remnants of Maximoff away forever.

He wondered what it was this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Sometimes following your heart means losing your mind" ~ Ernest Hemingway
> 
> Bet you didn't see that coming........I'm a horrible person...Buuuttttt I promise promise promise the epilogue is a happy ending!
> 
> P.S. JARVIS lives!!!!!!!


	7. Epilogue: Arsonist's Lullabye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi All,
> 
> So so sorry its been so long!! I started a new full-time job and that takes priority. I hope the final chapter makes everyone smile!
> 
> Enjoy!

**(Tony's POV)**

What did I tell you?

Fucked up right?

I did warn you.

So if you actually made it through the entire story then I congratulate you for your sadism and or your morbid curiosity.

And to fill in a few blanks, the world needed an army of psychologists (and contractors) to even begin fixing the chaos Maximoff's existence had wrought across the globe.

Unsurprisingly anti-magic sentiments skyrocketed higher than the US's debt.

These days at least half of the Avenger's cases involved putting down Witch Hunting rings.

For once I'd be nice if Humanity danced to another tune instead of frustratingly repeating history.

But I'll leave my rant about genocide and discrimination aside for another time.

Insane right?!

Well try waking up with the rest of the Earth who'd just been mind fucked all the way to Crazy Town.

It was...jarring.

Though that might have just been me.

But losing a significant chunk of your memories of past events, your apparent husband, children, and psychotic stalker will do that to you I suppose.

_Husband._

God there were still times I could hardly believe all the fantastical and psychedelic-level ridiculousness that had gone on.

If Friday and _Jarvis_ (no I am not still tearing up on that one even now *sniffs*) hadn't shown me recording after recording of all the evidence and proof…

All the 'dates'.

The slasher film worthy stalking.

The proposal.

Maximoff's stint with the Scepter.

My _wedding_.

House of S.

The birth of my _daughter_.

The incident on Avengers Day.

The birth of my _son_.

Maximoff in Wonderland.

Loki's devastation…

…….I was married.

I was married to an alien prince, and yet my fondest memories of him involved being tossed out a window 100+ stories high, dying, and calling him Reindeer Games.

I was, apparently, happily married to an alien prince, the father of his children, a beloved prince of New Asgard, one half the bane of the UN's existence, one half of the Earth's most badass power couple...And I don't remember it.

I don't remember because apparently I made a deal with a bratty sentient energy compressed rock in order to put an end to my latest and greatest psychotic stalker.

I knew Maximoff was unhinged and had an obsessive personality from the whole Ultron fiasco, but there really just comes a point of ridiculousness.

Personally I'm under the opinion that Clint should have jammed one of his titanium arrows into her skull instead of a taser and spared us this entire mess (Clint agrees).

I swear the universe itself just conspires against me being happy or relaxed in any fashion for too long.

Well not today.

The universe can go punts.

Because today was the day-

"Tones?" a familiar voice called out.

Oh. I'm sorry.

You didn't actually think that was the end of the story did you?

*Smirks*

I turned away from the windows overlooking the grand green mountain range and the clearest of blue skies.

Any cloud that so much as peeked over the mountain peaks was banished to another part of the country.

I wasn't sure whether to laugh or shake my head at Thor's antics.

"Tones, you ready yet? Or are you still primping?" Rhodey questioned, making his way into the bedroom, looking sharp himself in his own freshly pressed tux.

"Yup. Just ya know, tying the tie. Cuffing the cuffs. Buttoning the buttons. Be honest, sexy bed head or Vogue model?" I rambled, frowning in the mirror as I fidgeted with my sleeves and ran my fingers through my (sort of) tamed locks.

"Are you asking my preferences or how your nest of a hair looks?" Rhodey inquired, raising a teasing eyebrow at my obvious nervousness.

"Ha ha. Don't you have a country to run?" I retorted back, resisting the urge to stick my tongue at him (I did anyway).

"I make sure to schedule in time every week to ensure that I keep your ego in check. Besides, I still have 2 months before I'm officially sworn in as Vice President" Rhodey corrected, stepping closer to adjust my time and repluff my hair in a way that made it more manageable.

"James Rupert Rhodes, Vice President of the United States of America. Has a nice ring to it doesn't it?" I exclaim in awe, pride reverberating through my voice as I uttered the words aloud.

"It's still pretty surreal. Never thought out of all of us I'd be the one reaching the second highest office" Rhodey replied, his voice echoing mine in awed disbelief.

"True. Personally I always thought Pepper would make a lovely Madam President" I said casually, resting against the windowsill, the tension easing from my shoulders.

Hmmm. Now _there_ was an idea...Honeybear _could_ use the help fixing the country after Maximoff...

"No argument there" Rhodey agreed, narrowing his eyes at my contemplative expression.

"Maybe for her next birthday I'll surprise her with a candidacy?" I suggested, throwing the idea out there for a bite.

"If you do I don't think even Extremis can save you this time around" Rhodey warned, humor shining in his eyes.

Ah well, it was worth the thought.

"True. She'd stick me in my precious bits with her Jimmy Choos if I gave her more paperwork to deal with. And I happen to like those bits" I proclaimed with a wry grin.

"I'd say someone else does too" Rhodey joked, throwing out a bite of his own.

"..."

I shifted uncomfortably, my fingers tapping lightly against the arc reactor hidden beneath my tux.

"You okay?" Rhodey inquired gently, all trace of humor gone.

"Always" I tell him reflexively.

"You wanna try again? This time without the mask and false bravado?" Rhodey proclaimed, though his tone was gentle I could hear the stubborn firmness in it that clued me in that he wasn't going to let the subject drop.

I let out a sigh.

"Overwhelmed...In a good way" I admitted to him, "Hopeful"

"Relieved?" He added, a small knowing smile gracing his lips.

"You could say that" I stated, my own lips quirking up.

"You're not second guessing this are you? Cause if you are it's okay-"

"I'm not" I firmly cut in, pushing off the windowsill until I was once again standing directly in front of him.

"You sure?" He double-checked, assessing me up and down for any lies or deceit.

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life" I resolutely exclaimed, my tone determined and sure.

"Okay then" Rhodey exclaimed, a bright smile making its way into his face, "Let's do this"

"Time once again to show the universe who's really in charge" I proclaimed, straightening the lapels of my suit jacket.

"Ego Tones, ego" Rhodey scoffed, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry I can't hear you over the sound of my awesomeness" I retorted jokingly.

"I think you mean pig-headedness" He countered, knocking his shoulder with mine.

"I think the word you're actually wracking your brain for is resilient. You know, like Stark Resilient?" I reminded him.

"I still don't know why you changed the name of the Company" Rhodey huffed in exasperation.

"Are you kidding me?! My single best PR move since-"

"Since your 'I am Iron Man' speech, so you've said. Stark Resilient, rebuilding the world up from the ashes. Blah blah blah I got all that. But we've talked about this, and I know Doc Samson has been drilling it into your head too, you're not responsible for the destruction Maximoff caused across the world" Rhodey stated pointedly, crossing his arms across his chest as he glared at me (mildly).

"...Yes"

"Wow. That almost sounded convincing" Rhodey deadpanned at my obvious squirming.

"I'm working on it...But I never was a good liar when it came to myself" I sighed.

_“Your Father has been a horrible liar for years, no matter my instruction”_

_“My lies got me you didn’t they?”_

_“Indeed”_

"Why you smilin?" Rhodey inquired curiously, breaking me out of my trance.

"I don't know...It just feels right" I replied, still grinning like a loon.

"Doing this...What you're about to do. Feels right too...Right?" Rhodey questioned carefully.

"Absolutely" I replied, not an ounce of hesitation in my voice.

"Alright then" Rhodey exclaimed, clapping me on my shoulders, "What are we waiting for?"

"That's what I would like to know!"

The two of us immediately turned to an irate Pepper Potts damn near storming her way into the bedroom in her gorgeous floor length couture gown, the colors of the dress shimmering back and forth between arc reactor blue and forest green in the sunlight.

"Rhodey I told you to get his butt in gear not help him stall" Pepper scolded.

"Who's stalling? I'm not stalling. Are you stalling? Cause I'm not stalling" I stammered under the wait of Pepper's knowing gaze.

"You're not getting cold feet are you?" Pepper speculated in horrified exasperation.

" _Me_? Cold feet?" I reeled back, staring at her in overexaggerated shock.

"Cause if you elope with all those people outside-"

"What's the holdup?" Happy inquired, joining the bedroom party.

"He's eloping" Pepper exclaimed in exhausted but accepting disbelief, waving her hand out in my direction.

"But everyone's waiting! What are we supposed to tell them?!" Happy exclaimed in a panic.

"I am not eloping!" I shouted out in my own exasperated frustration.

"Then get out there! The orchestra can only play the wedding march so many times before Brunhilde stabs the violists with their own bows" Pepper exclaimed, shoving me towards the door.

"Violists?" I stated, my nose scrunching in disgust, "I thought we agreed-"

"You can be a Bridezilla all you want. There is no universe in which I'm alive that I would ever let you play Black Sabbath as your processional march. I didn't last time and I'm not now" Pepper cut in with finality as she guided me down the halls.

"Only because you and Friday are in cahoots against me" I scoffed, pouting like a petulant teenager.

_"All in your best interest Boss. And speaking of which-"_

"Yeah yeah I know. Jeez all of you are so talkative. Making the bride late for his own wedding. Shame on all of you" I mockingly scolded as we reached the doorway entrance out to the gardens.

"Just get out there. You've kept him waiting long enough" Pepper exclaimed, a soft smile vanquishing the hard-set frown lines on her face as she made her way around the side corner to return to her position.

"Don't listen to her, she's just anxious. He would wait for you forever" Rhodey corrected softly, fixing the new ruffles on my shirt.

"I know" I stated, my words hitching as they caught in my throat, tears starting to well in my eyes, "But Pepper's right"

"Isn't she always?" Rhodey grinned wryly.

"You ready?" He asked, holding out his elbow for me to take.

"Damn straight" I proclaimed, linking my arm with his as we strut our way outside.

For the briefest of moments the sunlight blinded me, blocking my vision of what was to come.

Then as quick as the flash appeared my eyes adjusted to the wondrous sight around me.

The moment I stepped out of the palace a nanobot archway looped and twisted it's way from the ground.

Blue and green flowers crafted of magic weaved their way through the metallic vines, blooming with a sparkling glow.

As I made my way under the arch the sparkles whirled around Rhodey and I in a whirlwind of color, and taking off into the air, signalling the ancient plants from planets I've never even heard of (courtesy of the GotG) to awaken.

Dizzingly beautiful aromas filled the air as I made my way down the aisle, the nanotech carpet shifting from blue to green and every shade in-between with each step Rhodey and I took towards the endgame.

Seeing that I had finally arrived the orchestra began to pick up speed, and the crowd rose in respect to greet us.

To the left, Carol was up front closest to the alter with Monica, Jane, Torunn, May, Ms. Keener, and a bouncing Mercedes. Behind them was my old friend Dr. Wu next to Helen, Mrs. Davis, Selvig, Darcy, and Ian. Bruce stood behind Wu, looking proud and giving me an adorably awkward thumbs up alongside Betty and Lyra. Brunhilde was of course on Bruce's other side, raising a bottle of Asgardian mead up into the air in congratulations the moment she spotted us (vaguely I wondered how drunk she was). Strange, Christina, Sofia, and Wong were in the next row back along with Shuri, the Itsy Bitsy Spider, Frosty the Snowman, and RJ. And bringing up the rear was Korg, Miek, Talos, his wife, daughter and grandson Dorrek...Who apparently Billy had a baby crush on at the moment *resisting urge to grumble unhappily*.

(I didn't intentionally seat my best friend's wife's friends all the way in the back as a way to separate them from my darling innocent baby boy. Nope nope).

To the right (on the 'I haven't completely forgiven you' side) was T'Challa, Everett, their son Azari, and Nakia up front. The Bartons were behind them with the Lang-van Dyne-Prestons. And last and most certainly the least was Sharon, James and Sarah standing next to Steve and their new stepdaddy-to-be Sam (that revelation shouldn't have been as much as a surprise as it was), and Sam's new protege Elijah Bradley.

I'd like to regale you of a poetic wonder that was the day I renewed my vows.

But truthfully, I only had eyes for the glorious man standing at the foot of the golden, flower adorned alter in front of me.

As I released my Honeybear's elbow I was tackled by all my gleefully rambunctious children.

With Morgan clinging to my back, Billy and Tommy wrapped around my legs, and Jamie snuggled into my arms I let out a contented boisterous laugh.

I was _happy._

Harley and Peter decidedly took pity on me and removed the octopuses clinging to my person, each of them giving me a wink (or in Harley's case a mischievous grin) before they all made their way over to Carol.

Now significantly less weighed down by the mini-minions I stepped up to my husband, feeling safe and loved with Rhodey, Happy, Pepper, and Jarvis behind me.

With a grin of amusement I spotted Friday, Karen, Edith, Veronica, and Hugin and Munin's codes popping in and out of the air above us, and Dum-E and U waving from the far side of the chairs.

_I was happy._

And from the near goofy grin on Loki's face, and just how tightly he was gripping my hands (as if he would _never_ let them go ever again), I think it was safe to infer that he was just as happy as I was.

"You may all be seated" Thor's voice echoed throughout the gardens, our guests responding in kind.

It was time.

Today was _finally_ the day.

"It is with the greatest honor we are gathered here today to witness the triumph of true unyielding love. A connection between two souls so powerful, so pure, that not even the Fates themselves could keep them apart. That even when faced with the most devastating of trials they still managed to overcome each and every obstacle in the maze of deceit, agony, and loss. Proving that with faith and effort true love never dies. That no matter where the Fates trials may take you, may even separate you, that it will always be possible to find your way back to one another" Thor regaled, his tone bridled with joy and pride, even as his own eyes welled with tears of wonder, "We are here today to celebrate _that very eternal unending love_ "

Damn straight.

"Thank you for reminding me" I proclaimed, squeezing the love of my existence's hands even tighter.

"Always" Loki replied, his eyes glittering with love and determination.

Screw the ceremony. I want to kiss my man now.

So I did.

Now and _forever._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Never tame your demons. But always keep them on a leash” ~ song lyrics sang by Hozier
> 
> *I may write other parts to this series later (I have ideas for 2 in particular) so keep an eye out and have a wonderful rest of your holiday season!


End file.
